#and i got yelled at because I drew him with lashes

[chickenchirps27]

thinking about them

Eclipse gets to wear a frilly skirt because yeas

[imabeautifulbutterfly]

How about 17 and 46 with Rex??? Only if u want to!!!

Hello gorgeous @skyofnostars,

You're so sweet. Of course, I want to.

I hope you'll enjoy this one. I was debating on which way I wanted this to go, but I'm happy with how it turned out. Also the story got away from me, so enjoy the 1400 words.

Love oo,

The Kiss

Warnings: Angst, kissing, drunken state, loss of life, Krell era, comfort, misunderstanding, I think that's it. If I miss any please let me know.

Main Master List   |  Star Wars Fic Roulette

Rex sat in his office going over several datapads reviewing the reports from several Majors, Lieutenants and Sergeants, each discussing from their own point of view how the battle progressed. Technically, some of this should’ve been handled by the General, but right now … they had to deal with General Krell, and he wasn’t going to let his man have to put up with anymore of his tyrannical way of thinking. 

His eyes looked over the list of soldiers that had been lost from Krell’s last battle plan, his heart tightening with each name, each brother now gone. Simply because that Jedi … no, he’s no Jedi. He’s a monster. A vile excuse for a man who was currently in charge, at least until General Skywalker came back. 

The Captain rolled his neck side to side, closing his eyes, trying to silence the anger and frustration that had grown within him. Why did General Skywalker have to be called away now? No, why did they have to be stuck with a General that clearly didn’t care about his troops. 

You slowly made your way to Rex’s office, you were dreading having to face Rex, not only did you have to turn in your own report, but on top of all the other issues between you and Rex right now, you were going to have to apologize for your actions on the field. Krell pushed your buttons and you lashed out at him, well not just Krell, but also at Rex, it wasn’t Rex’s fault, you knew that; but it was all too much. Then to make matters worse he was the one who saved you, when you were getting ready to punch Krell.

He stood in front of you, dressing you down in front of the General. Telling you to learn your place. You knew he did it, so the General wouldn’t have an excuse to step in; it was embarrassing and awful, but he did save you; saved you from a court martial or worse, at least. 

Maker, why was it so hard to be around him, now? 

For a long time Rex and you were friends. It was an almost instantaneous friendship from the moment you two met. Then one night, one stupid drunken night at 79s you accidentally kissed him, which simultaneously sobered you up and ruined the friendship you both had. 

After that night Rex kept his distance, the first real conversation you had with him was when you were yelling at him and General Krell, and he yelled back at you. Which wasn’t even a conversation, really.

Yet, now there were no more options left, as much as he wanted to avoid you, he’d have no option but to talk to you. Especially, since you had concerns about Krell. 

You took a deep breath and knocked on the door. 

“Come in.”

A moment was all you needed as you steadied your breath, before walking in. You stood at attention, waiting for Rex to acknowledge your presence. 

He took a second to calm his nerves, his eyes refusing to meet yours. 

“Lieutenant.”

“Captain, I’m here to give you my report.” 

You held out the datapad to him, your heart aching, missing the camaraderie you both had once enjoyed. You missed it all, the joking, the laughing, the subtle flirting from your end, it had all stopped after that kiss. 

He drew a clear line between you two and that was all there was to it. 

“You can just leave it on the desk,” he focused his attention back on the report in front of him. 

He wanted to look at you, he wanted to talk to you, but he didn’t deserve that. Especially, since when you drunkenly kissed him, it had been the most perfect kiss he ever imagined he could’ve had with you. He enjoyed the feel of your lips on his, the warmth from your breath gently washing over his skin, the weight of you in his arms, the way you made him feel, it was everything he could’ve possibly wanted. It was then he realized how much he cared for you. How much he wanted something more with you, but that wasn’t possible. 

He felt as though he’d abused your kindness, your friendship. He felt ashamed to be near you.

You let out a sigh as you looked at him, “Will you ever look me in the eyes again?”

Rex didn’t have it within himself to answer you, much less to look at you.

You’d done this, you’d ruined your friendship. If you hadn’t been so drunk that night, if you hadn’t pushed the limits of your friendship none of this would be happening. 

“I’m sorry.” You started, “I’m sorry for overstepping that night and kissing you,” Rex lifted his eyes to look at you, his heart tightened when he heard you regretted kissing him. His eyes took in all your features, studying each section of your face. Maker, how he missed your face, missed you. “Anyway, I just wanted to say thank you for protecting me with Krell. I know I really put my foot in it and if it wasn’t for you stepping in and covering over what I said or was about to do …”

“Well you always manage to make my life interesting,” he smirked as he looked at you, “I’m just glad I stopped you off before you actually hit him. Truthfully, I didn’t want him to demote you or kick you out of the GAR, so I went a bit extra.”

“It’s fine, and you know, even if he didn’t react at that moment, I have a feeling he’s going to get back at me, one way or another. He may be a Jedi, but I think even he would think twice before going against someone related to one of the Republic Senators.”

“I highly doubt that would’ve phased him.”

“Probably not.” You smiled as you looked at him, “I am sorry about everything. I’m sorry I ruined our friendship that night and … I know you don’t feel comfortable around me …”

“Wait,” Rex held up his hand, “Do you think I’m avoiding you because … I’m mad at you or something?”

“Aren’t you?”

Rex closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair, running his hands over his face, “No.” He stood from his seat and walked over to you. As he looked into your eyes, he felt his heart start to beat faster, he slowly reached up his hand gently caressing your cheek. “Cyar’ika, the reason I was avoiding you was because … if I didn’t I would’ve overstepped. The moment you kissed me, I realized I was in love with you. I’ve been in love with you this whole time. This entire time, I’d been taking advantage of your kindness and sincerity, just so I could get close to you. I’ll understand if you don’t feel the same way, if you regret kissing me, but I want you to know, I love you.”

“You love me?”

“I have. I do. For a long time.”

You closed your eyes, your smile reaching all the way to your ears as you leaned into his hand, holding his hand against your cheek. “Look at you, showing some actual good taste. I’m almost impressed.” You laughed, as you slowly opened your eyes to look at him, “Rex, I’ve loved you from the moment we met. Maybe I didn’t realize it was love at first, but now looking back … it’s the only thing that makes sense. I love you, and truthfully, I don’t regret kissing you. I regretted the fact it pushed us apart.”

His lips gently pressed against your forehead, his other hand moved to the back of your head holding you close, “I’m sorry for pushing you away. I should’ve talked to you instead of making decisions on both of our behalf.”

“It’s okay” your hands went to his waist and pulled him closer. “You’re here now.” You opened your eyes, pulling away slightly to look at him, “What are we going to do about Krell? I don’t trust him. If this continues you won’t have any brothers left, and not to mention …”

“Shhhh” he pressed another kiss to your forehead, cutting you off, “I know, cyar’ika. I know.” Rex pulled you into a hug, burying his face in the crook of your neck, “Right now, though. I just want to hold you in my arms and not worry about him. At least for a little bit.”

You didn’t fight him on it, you simply nodded, wrapping your arms around his torso as you pulled him in closer. There was time to deal with Krell, at least that’s what you hoped. 

Main Master List   |  Star Wars Fic Roulette

Tag list:

@liadamerondjarin @badbatch-simp24@spicymcnuggies@lady-ren @firstofficerwiggles @darkangel4121 @discofern @kavecika @monako-jinn-stories @ladykatakuri @avathebestx @theroguesully @furyhellfire66 @carodealmeida @ciramaris @sprout-fics @twinkofthedink @dindjarin-mandalorian @ulchabhangorm @littlemisspascal @tortor-mcgee @vodika-vibes @clonethirstingisreal

[stoned-frog]

⚠️toxic/abusive relationship⚠️(killermare)

@beforetheendowo this got really long so I'm making it its own post

answering this

I absolutely agree with the pushing boundaries part, Target would do or say things that obviously make Nightmare upset, he would openly show that he knows stuff about Nightmare he probably shouldn't, showing that Night wasn't careful enough in maintaining his perfect image and he would never admit to it but it makes Nightmare very unsettled and sometimes even scared.

Target would also sneak in on Nightmare to just watch him sometimes. He isn't that interested in him but it makes Nightmare tense up and Target can see behaviours he's never seen before, he can see that this perfect powerful being can be bothered by a pathetic mortal like him. That way he can get to know Nightmare better and use it to his advantage but also it makes Nightmare more prone to lash out, he can never take a break because at the back of his head there's always this irrational fear that Target might be watching him.

Basically Target pushes bounderies, gives him the silent treatment and annoys Nightmare because it amuses him to see his god vulnerable and that makes Nightmare more stressed leading to more abuse

Adding to all that I also think about Target being toxic because he worships Nightmare in a way, he believes that he is a god, a being far higher than him therefore Nightmare's actions are what he deserves. He knows he is used and abused, objectified and molded like "his new owner" wants it, but he just submits to it. He was already used by his AU's anomaly (Chara or whatever, I don't like that aspect of Something New, that it's just Chara) and when he thought he was free they got replaced by another abuser. He might think this is just his fate? But yea back to my idea-

Nightmare can never change or even reflect on his actions because Target doesn't resist, he follows orders, bows to him, never responds violently to him. It only takes one word for Target to throw away whatever he was doing and come to him like a dog.

I'm talking mostly about Target lol but that's cuz Nightmare is just so obviously abusive both verbally and physically, gaslighting and making others think they need him it doesn't need as much attention? But I will say what I think anyway

Aside from all you said, I also imagine Nightmare would use him as a kind of stress toy, when he needs to blow of some steam, or Target just says one word too much he might get thrown across the room or pinned to the nearest wall by his neck and yelled at. Some time ago I drew some things that might illustrate what I mean

Here and here

Also this is just for my headcanons but Target introduced himself just like that to both Dust and Horror and that's what they call him (in all versions I made for the gang) but in this one only Nightmare refers to him as "Killer" and of course, Target never corrects him. When Dust or Horror call him that either by accident or to tease him he always corrects them and it sometimes even turns into an argument but with Nightmare, nothing. Not a word.

[666writingcafe]

House Call

A Text Conversation Between Diavolo and Solomon

Diavolo: Are you awake?

Solomon: Yes.

Diavolo: Where are you?

Solomon: At MC's place...why?

Diavolo: Perfect. We'll be there shortly.

Solomon: Diavolo.

Solomon: What happened?

Diavolo: I'll start from the beginning: I got kidnapped by some sorcerers.

Solomon: WHAT?????

Diavolo: Specifically, Avarius and his group of cronies.

Solomon: FUCK

Solomon: I fucking hate that guy

Solomon: Like he was part of the reason I got kicked out of the Society even though I founded it

Diavolo: Well, he's not too happy about our presence in the human world. He seems to be under the impression that I'm using MC as a weapon.

Solomon: WHAT the actual FUCK

Diavolo: He called them a half-breed.

Solomon: *gif of someone narrowing their eyes angrily*

Solomon: How DARE he insult MY apprentice????

Diavolo: What have you been teaching MC, exactly?

Solomon: ?????

Diavolo: I have my reasons for asking.

Solomon: Well...

Solomon: I've taught them some basic spells and combat moves.

Diavolo: Define basic.

Solomon: You know...the fundamentals. Nothing too complex yet. Not until they have their license.

Diavolo: That's going to be a LOT more difficult now.

Solomon: Why????

Diavolo: Your DARLING apprentice has killed a man.

Solomon: ??????????????????????????????

Diavolo: They along with Belphie helped rescue me, but obviously we had to fight our way out. One of Avarius's people managed to cut Belphie's arm, and MC must have saw it, because the next thing I know they pulled out a knife and threw it with deadly precision into this guy's chest.

Solomon: Well shit

Solomon: That is certainly beyond anything we've done together.

Diavolo: Part of their power comes from their emotions. The rage they felt upon seeing Belphie hurt drew that out. They became a beacon of light by the time we got out of there, and they were ready to head back in there and continue fighting. I was struggling to restrain them, Solomon. I'm one of the strongest demons in the Devildom, and yet it took a lot for me to keep MC from running.

Solomon: Are they okay, at least?

Diavolo: They're currently passed out in the backseat, but they're not hurt. I figured some time in their home would help recharge them. Plus, I do NOT want them around the others right now.

Solomon: Understandable.

Diavolo: I don't think you do, Solomon. The MINUTE we got in the car and started driving, Lucifer called MC's phone, and I had to deal with him yelling at me for fifteen minutes.

Solomon: *laughing crow sticker*

Diavolo: It's not funny.

Diavolo: Like, I know he was worried about MC and Belphie leaving without a trace, but that was because I instructed Belphie to not tell him because I KNEW he would blow up like this if he discovered I was kidnapped.

Diavolo: It's bad enough that the Society is down one sorcerer. If he was there, they would have been down six members, and that might as well be a declaration of war against the human world. As it is, I have to figure out how to explain this to the Society, because in Avarius's eyes, MC's actions have proven his point.

Solomon: But you didn't make MC kill that guy.

Diavolo: Doesn't matter. As one of the head sorcerers of the Society, he has the ability to influence his colleagues into believing whatever he wants them to. If he says that I possessed MC and made them lash out against one of their kind, then that becomes the truth.

Solomon: Is it wrong for me to be lowkey impressed by what MC did?

Diavolo: In this particular moment of time, yes. Just wait until I get this straightened out with some of the more reasonable people in the Society before you start gloating. Please.

Solomon: *thumbs up emoji*

Diavolo: We're almost there. Belphie's going to drop MC and me off at the front door before heading back to the manor. I'll need your help getting MC settled in.

Solomon: *thumbs up emoji*

Taglist: @lost-in-time-wanderer, @fuzztacular, @dianedancer18, @sweetbrier2908, @flare-love, @completelyshatteredbrokenmschf, @thunderlightning351, @l3v1chan, @anxious-chick

[ccaramel-llow]

Can I request tadc reader where they're very sweet and nonchalant with people even when they're mean to them?

TADC! Cast x reader

Warnings ; Cussing, Bullying, Jax, Not proof read, Obsessive behavior, Death threats, Holding hands before marriage? smh.

Genre ; Fluff + Romance

Pairings ; Queenie/Reader, Kinger/Reader, Kaufmo/reader, Pomni/Reader, Ragatha/Reader, Zooble/Reader, Caine/Reader, Jax/Reader

Queenie

, The competitive x The sweetheart.

, She's overprotective of you and cusses out anyone who's rude to you.

, Beautiful scary guard dog x The kind sweetheart, Literally punches anyone if they made you cry

, She never does it in front of others although, She makes sure your distracted because she doesn't wanna lose you.

, Gets flustered as you boost up her ego if you complimented her when she finished one of caine's bullshitty challenges

, Always gives you a kiss on the forehead and tells you how proud she is of you and how much she loves you after finishing a challenge.

, She likes to hear you rant about stuff you like and nods her head whenever you make a statement

, She adores hugs, Hug her pretty pretty please :3

, Tries to teach you how to defend yourself but fails, And when she does that literally just makes her pull out a resting bitch face.

, She know's when something's up with you. So if your showing any signs of negative behavior, She tries to comfort you by telling you how strong you are.

" You're trying Lovely, But I'm afraid you're also failing. But that's okay, You're perfect to me in all ways possible. Now may i please have a hug from you my dearest? "

Kinger

, He literally glares at anyone who makes fun of you, He feel's bad for your well being and tries to defend you but fails.

, Drags you to his impenetrable fortress just for him to distract you from negative thoughts when your sad, He distracts you by playing with your hair as he asks you what kind of stuff you like while cuddling

, Hold's your hand when Jax bullies you and when Jax is gone he attempts to try and comfort you.

, He doesn't understand why you're so nice. He always thinks you would get mad and start lashing out but you never do. You just reply with a soft, Kind compliment.

, Stares at you with lovey dovey eyes every time you're near him. He compliments you when you're next to him. He fiddles with his hands while looking at you too.

, Shy loser x Over sweet loser

, Death glare's at anyone who attempts to make fun of you until they go off, He's always pissed when someones mean to you and starts ranting on how you dont deserve such bull shitty treatment.

" (Name), You gotta learn how to fend for yourself!- Yeah you're right actually i suck at fending for myself too. BUT STILL!- You need to actually fight for yourself!... I give up never mind lets just go." drags you to his impenetrable fortress

Kaufmo

, Literally says an offensive joke about anyone who bullies you and then it starts a cat fight.

, He asks if your alright all the time after being yelled at, Bullied, Etc.

, Smooches your hand while cuddling in his room to comfort you if you say no.

, He paints you!! He gets flustered when you ask why he drew you. He uses "B-because you're super kind!" As an excuse with a wobbly smile because he knows he sucks shit at lying.

, When he found an exit, He got so excited because he could show you and you'd be so proud of him!! And you were. And you didn't even take it as a joke.

, He loves how you genuinely love his humor, Even if it's dark.

, Definitely doesn't dream about you both getting married.

, Whenever you laugh he starts to get sweaty and nervous, Because your laugh sounds so genuine that it truly makes him happy, It makes him even more in-love with you.

" Wait.... You... Love my humor? R-really? Uhm.... Of course i'll say more jokes!! F-for you!!"

Pomni

, She's so confused. But she finds you so beautiful.

, Why are you so kind? Are you even real? Are you perhaps an angel sent from heaven to guide her?

, She always freaks out around you and blushes a shit ton.

, Glares at anyone who disrespects you and harsh-fully insults them to the point where the bully bawls their eyes out.

, Asks if you're okay after being insulted and holds your hands as she tells you how great and sweet you are if you say you aren't to reassure you that you're an amazing person.

, She likes to bring you with her while she tries to find a way out the circus, You being her all-time favorite person.

, She drop kicks jax and runs away with you if jax tries to bully you.

, She nods at every statement you say, Not really caring about how stupid your idea is but following it anyways because she's so happy that she gets to be near you.

" (Name), (name)!! Would you like to uh.. Uh!-... COMPLete-! this challenge with me?"

Ragatha

, She's just like you! You're just like her!! You two are basically soulmates sent from heaven.

, Though, She gets mad often and you genuinely are a nonchalant person who's usually calm all the time.

, She defends you from jax and glares at anyone who dares to harshly pick on you.

, Drags you away from the toxic person and asks you whats on you're mind today to distract you from negative thoughts.

, Likes to smooch your cheek after you finish a challenge, Ranting about how proud she is of you.

, Ragatha tends to be passive aggressive when people are being rude to you, For example she says a comment that sounds nice but is extremely offensive to the victims ears.

, Likes to take you to her room so she can braid your hair.

Zooble

, This Ambiguous fuck attacks ANYBODY who messes wit you.

, They comfort you by ranting angrily at you by saying how pretty, Handsome, Sweet and cool you are.

, Will try to teach you how to fend for yourself. But then fails.

, They like to receive attention from you, For example compliments, Praise, Or hugs.

, Cheer's you on when you do something not giving a dog's ass about what others think of it.

, Shit talks the person who talked smack about you.

, Get's in trouble daily for you.

, They like to drag you to their room so they can rant about stuff as they slowly get flustered on how you look and listen to them so intently.

, They also get nervous around you, Pretending that you dont exist and usually pretends to cough to cover up a compliment, When you ask what they said they just said they coughed.

, Likes to rant about you while your listening.

" (Name), You let that little- you know what...? Come on sweetie were gonna do some defensive training. "

Jax

, He literally teases you alot.

, Bullies you but he knows when he goes too far so he stops.

, Bullies the person who talked bullshit about you as if he wanted them dead, because he does.

, Will say death threats to the person who bullied you. Not including himself.

. Can And will throw a fight just because someone criticized you.

, Calls you "Sugar" because of how sweet you are. And also calls you his saint for personal reasons.

, he likes to ask you for a lot of stuff, But plot twist, He asks for kisses, Praise, Etc.

"Hey toots, Mind kissing me right here?~"

Caine

, Bitch was confused on why you were so calmed when you first arrived, But soon later developed feelings for you after the first 2 year's you stayed.

, He honestly was surprised you lasted this long but then remembers he shouldn't because Hoo Hah exists.

, Is VERY chatty when your around him. He likes to rant about stuff while you're just there listening to him speak gibberish.

, Glares at anybody who shit talks you and sends them to the cellar with a sheer look of dissapointment.

, SPIN HUGS WHEN YOU FINISH A CHALLENGE AND YOU WERENT FEELING GOOD ABOUT YOURSELF. HE PRAISES YOU SO MUCH. RAHH.

, When your sad he takes you to your room and your both just cuddling while your sleeping and under big fat soft blankets and he plays with your hair.

" How dare you criticize my dearest you li-"

Likes + Reblogs are appreciated.

i spent 2 hours on this bitch smh

[buckgasms]

Kinktober: Beauty and the Beast - part two

I did a thing! It's going to need another part because oh lord this is a complex beast I've created for myself.

Anyway, enjoy and let me know what you think!

The next day Bucky came to find you in one of the many parlours, dusting with some vigour, your eyes puffy but you still looked beautiful.

"Ahem... I uh... Would... Would you come with me?" He seemed unsure but his voice still felt like a command, so you paused your work and followed him.

You walked quietly along the corridor behind him until he came to a stop outside a room you had never been in before.

"Before we go in, I wanted to apologise for what I said yesterday. My behaviour, it was... Beastly. Anyway, I hope this will make up for my behaviour..."

He pushes open the door and you gasp, as an enormous library is revealed to you. It's a little dusty, but you can't help but squeal as you see walls upon walls of books, of every genre you could dream of.

You turned to look at him, a smile spreading wide across your face.

"It's yours, I never get around to reading anyway, I feel you'll make better use of it than me..."

He smiles and you pull him into a hug before you realise what you are doing. You pull away, as you both awkwardly chuckle.

"Anyway, I'll leave you to enjoy..."

He left and you felt a little warmer, releasing the breath you didn't realise you'd been holding.

🥀

As time went on, you spent less time apart. As the house became more liveable, Bucky ventured into more places, just to spend time around you.

He was a prolific writer, and the sound of his scribbling became the soundtrack to your cleaning. Unbeknownst to you, he would steal glances at you as you flitted about the room, occasionally commenting on things out of place, or tutting when you found a stubborn stain. He couldn't take his eyes off of you when your hair fell from your bun and framed your face, the setting sun streaming through the windows, giving you a golden aura.

After dinner, now spent more calmly together, you would take a book from your library and join him in the parlour. He told himself that as the winter months drew in, it made sense to light a fire and share a room together. He told himself that it was normal to feel this way...

You interrupted his thoughts by coming to take a seat curled up next to him, an old book in your hand.

"Bucky look, it's a first edition!"

You forgot yourself a little bit as you squashed up closer to him and handed him the book, his fingers brushing against yours as he turned the pages of the book.

"Um... It's really beautiful isn't it?"

"Hmm yes it is."

But he wasn't looking at the book.

🥀

One night you were drifting off to sleep when you heard a long, loud, scream. You froze in your bed, terrified for a moment, when another followed, strangled and deep.

But you realised, this wasn't a threatening noise, but of fear. Against your better judgement, you moved out of bed, grabbing your robe and dashing down the hallways.

Outside Bucky's room you waited a moment, holding your breath, debating whether to move until another cry came from the other side of the door.

Pushing gently, you called out his name. The light of the moon filled the room, spotlighting the bed, where he lay, tangled up in sheets, sweat covering his brow and chest.

You called his name again, a little louder as you got nearer. He quietened a little but still held fast to sleep. Eventually you perched on the edge of his bed and gently gripped his arm, shaking gently.

"Bucky please wake up? It's me..."

Suddenly he lashed out, yelling as his eyes shot open. You managed to jump away as he adjusted to being awake.

"Who's there? What do you want...!"

"Bucky it's me... It's me. You were having a nightmare..."

His eyes scanned around the room until he saw you, standing nervously at the end of his bed.

"Beauty? I was... Oh... I'm sorry. I didn't mean to frighten you..." You could see the pain in his face at the thought of upsetting you, so you stepped bravely back to the bed and settled down near him, your hand dangerously close to his.

"It's ok. I was just worried about you. You sounded in pain..."

He cleared his throat and adjusted his blankets that had gotten very twisted in his panic.

"Just some leftovers from the war" he says, tapping his head with a metal finger. You smile and take his other hand in yours.

"Let me help you..." You stand up and pull the blankets away from him, straightening them and pulling out all the twists. You blushed when you realised he was only wearing underpants in bed, but luckily he didn't spot you in the moonlight.

You draped the sheets over him and watched him settle before he reached out and took your hand.

"Thank you..."

🥀

A new routine settled in for you both. These nightly visits, a few times a week, where you would come to his room, soothe his fears and resettle him before he could go back to sleep.

More and more though, he would share his nightmares, and tell you about the stories of war, that changed him so much.

He spoke of trenches and mud. Friends who were there one day and gone the next. The trauma of losing his arm.

You were devastated when he told you about his return to the village. His neighbours and friends began to ignore him. His scars and arm an unwelcome reminder of the war they all wanted to forget. Or of the families they had lost.

That he could almost bare. But they still wanted him to fund everything. They wanted the Barnes Foundation, now lead by Bucky, to support the town. They just refused to speak to him, to look him in the eye or give him the time of day.

So he started to refuse them. To shut them out and ignore them too. He didn't care if the whole town fell apart, it wasn't his fault, it was theirs.

It was horrible to see his bitterness, when you felt in your heart that Bucky wasn't like that really. He was hurting and in pain. But he was still good at heart, surely.

One night you were talking so late, that you ended up falling asleep in his bed, curled up again beside him.

You opened you eyes to find the sun had risen and you saw him sleeping peacefully next to you. You felt you should leave before he woke, but you watched him for a moment.

He was very handsome, but his face was hidden by a messy, unkempt beard, knotted and tangled. His lips were a deep red, and although he was a natural frowner, there was a slight curve to them when he spoke to you.

His cheeks had very little freckles that you could only see this close. His skin, even under all the messy hair, looked soft and quite.... Kissable.

You decided to get out of bed before you did anything ridiculous. This man was holding you captive essentially... You should not be thinking about kissing him.

🥀

"Bucky... I have an idea...."

You shuffled into his office and he actually gave a full smile when he saw you come in.

"Oh? What's this idea then Beauty?"

You twiddled with your fingers and nibbled on your lips, until he chuckled and stood from his desk and walked over to you, holding your arms and squeezing.

"Tell me..."

You pressed your hands on his chest gently and smiled.

"Well, I was wondering... Maybe you would start feeling a little better if you looked a little more like your old self?"

He cocked a bushy eyebrow, a hint of a smile on his lips.

"Are you saying this isn't a good look for a reclusive man having a nervous breakdown?"

You giggled and pulled at the lapels of his housecoat. "It's perfect for that, but I think maybe you could just try a different look?"

He chuckles and looks at you with a discerning eye. "What would you suggest then Beauty?"

You curled a matted lock around your finger and suggested raised your eyebrows. "I think a nice haircut and a beard trim would be an excellent start."

"You don't have to go mad, just enough to feel a bit more like this guy...."

You tilt your head to a picture of Bucky with his parents, standing proud between them. Hair slicked back and beard short and tidy, dazzling in a suit and bowtie.

"Hmm. Haven't seen that guy for a long time..." He looked a little unsure but you place your hands on his shoulders and squeeze.

"I'd love to meet him one day James..."

🥀

He called for you. Your name echoing through the corridors a little while after dinner. You glided through the halls until you found him standing in the bathroom, a razor on the side and a slightly wild look in his eyes.

"I don't know.... I don't know what, or if I can do this..."

"Oh James... You don't have to...." You said, coming in and standing next to him, watching him in the mirror, talking his arm and wrapping your arms around his.

"No I want to. I should... It's just... A lot..."

"Can I help you? I could do it for you?"

He scoffed a little, "You can shave a beard?" You giggle and poke his ribs, "I have given my father a ton of haircuts and shaves in my time. It'll be easy."

He huffs, leaning against the counter and you a little.

"Ok...but will you stop if it gets too much..."

You lean your head against his shoulder and look at him. "For either of us. Yes, I promise..."

🥀

You send him away and run a bath, nice warm water and whatever nice scents you could find in the bathroom, hoping some bubbles will cover the lower half of him while you work.

Finally you call him back and he comes in sheepishly, and you, with faux confidence, encourage him into the tub, looking away as he clambers in.

Suddenly you wonder if this is absolutely insane, but when you turn around you see him looking vulnerable and uncomfortable and all you want to do is help him.

"Ok just relax and I'll take care of everything alright?"

He settles down a little and you use a jug to rinse his hair. You work slowly but surely, getting rid of all the knots and tangles before you slowly start snipping at the dead locks.

You encourage him to talk, my just little things but you know he's happy if he's talking. Occasionally you add more warm water and bubbles to avoid a chilly man moaning at you.

Finally his hair is cut and his beard is clean, ready for a trim. You move round, sitting on the edge of the tub and pop your finger under his chin, tilting his head towards you.

"You ready?"

He grins and nods, closing his eyes as you start trimming and clipping until his sharp jawline reappears. It doesn't take long before you have revealed a very new looking Bucky.

"There, see what you think..."

He opens his eyes and glances in the mirror which he can see from where he sits in the tub. He blinks a few times, shocked to see himself in a way he hasn't for a good long time.

"Jesus..."

He runs a hand over his face before smoothing his hair back. He glances at you, sitting nervously on the side as you await his judgement.

"I do look like me again... Wow Beauty... I can't believe it..."

You toss the clippers to one side and chuckle as he admires himself in the mirror. "Alright handsome, don't get stuck in there admiring yourself too long ok?"

What you didn't expect was for him to grab you hand and pull you, in an innocent attempt to say thank you. What he didn't expect was for you to fall backwards as his pull was a little harder than he planned.

So you ended up crashing off the side of the bath into the lukewarm water, flat out on top of naked Bucky.

"Oh my god!" You cry out and do your best to get out, but the water and a roaring Bucky doesn't help.

"Beauty I'm sorry..." He pants between laughter as you groan and yelp as you struggle, until he decides the only way to calm you down is to do what he was hoping to do anyway.

He grips your face gently and pulls you towards him, pressing a kiss to your lips. You stop moving and gasp, gripping the edge of the bath as you stare at him.

"Oh..."

He smiles. And you smile.

And you lean in and kiss him again.

[rosypenguins]

Hello again. I’m back with another delusional prediction: his entire fucking backstory lets do this! (I want to see how much I can get right before S2 drops.) (And I also realize I talk a lot about Drew’s backstory anyways, so might as well just outline all my thoughts here!)

Obviously, we know Drew’s parents are rich. It’s the thing he brags about constantly. So I imagine his parents have jobs that keep them away from home often. (Either they have to work long hours, or they have to travel.) I also imagine Drew’s an only-child, because… like, he lacks basic communication skills and his empathy’s terrible. All of this points to someone who grew up relatively alone.

So, with Drew’s parents just gone for most of his life, Drew was probably left under the care of nannies they’d hire, and honestly, I feel like Drew probably wouldn’t really want to interact with any of these people. He feels like the kind of kid who just locked himself away in his room and went on his iPad. (YOU CANNOT TELL ME DREW WASN’T AN IPAD KID I WILL NOT BELIEVE YOU-)

So these nannies pretty much made sure he got to school, ate, and went to bed. They didn’t actually engage with him much beyond that. (Unless like he was actively acting up or something.) And if they tried, Drew would probably be a little brat and leave. (Also I imagine that he’d only have the same nanny for a few weeks to a few months before his parents hired someone else.)

When Drew’s parents were around, they were pretty neglectful. They wouldn’t really engage unless Drew actively made an effort. (Which was rare at best.) They were very professional, and emotionally distant. Drew was always shut down whenever he was upset, and he was likely either yelled at or ignored whenever he cried. I like to imagine he’s parents probably have more traditional values, such as men always having to be strong and whatnot. It was considered weakness to cry, or display any strong emotions really. (I’m pretty sure it’s confirmed that Drew has a toxic masculinity mindset, which would explain a lot about his behavior, and how he instinctively resorts to anger to express his emotions.)

Drew was always told he had to be strong, and he wasn’t supposed to cry. And eventually, he stopped crying, because he knew it wouldn’t get him anything, and it’d only be a sign of weakness: something he was supposed to be.

Hell, the only real way Drew could even tell that his parents cared about him was how they’d buy him stuff. They’d buy him anything he wanted, they just never gave him their time. (Which is why he’s always buying stuff for his friends because it’s all he knows how to do.)

I don’t think Drew really understood why his parents were never around, at least for a while. He probably just assumed they didn’t want him or something. Or he wasn’t worth more than their time was.

Needless to say, I think Drew was a pretty problematic child in Elementary school. I imagine he’d be pretty defiant of authority, and pretty argumentative too. (All just lashing out because of the lack of attention he receives at home.) (Also in an attempt to gain control over something.)

But Drew eventually mellowed out, and just accepted how his life was. And I’m just gonna mention here too, Drew definitely has an insecure attachment style. Without a consistent parental figure giving him attention, and with how little he had control over in his early life, I feel like he’d developed a disorganized attachment style. (Being a combination of avoidant and anxious. He wants to keep people close, but he’s also terrified of someone else leaving him so he’d rather just keep his distance sometimes.) (He needs therapy BAD.)

Anyways, I feel when Drew was around 12 or so, his parents probably figured he’d be old enough to take care of himself, which at this point Drew just does not care anymore. He locks himself away in his room anyways, what difference would it make? His parents just gave him his own card so he could buy himself anything he needed. (This basically left Drew home alone for a majority of his life. He’d sometimes catch them late at night after work or early before work, or sometimes not at all because they’re traveling meaning he’d be alone for several days at a time.)

And I definitely feel Drew resents his parents for having him and never being around for him, but he tells himself it made him independent, and it gave him realistic expectation of what the worlds like. (In reality all his parents gave him is attachment issues, abandonment issues, and a shit-ton of cash.)

Anyways, as stated before Drew probably gained a reputation for being a problematic child in Elementary school, and maintained this reputation even when he started mellowing out and focusing more in school. So Middle School became his ‘fresh start’. (WHICH IS WHY HE TOLD JAKE THAT IN EPISODE 9-)

As per his parents demand, Drew enrolled in Honors courses. (That was probably one of the only things they really cared about honestly: his grades.) And he started building a better reputation for himself, making friends with cooler students and picking on others to make him feel better about himself.

But these friends he had were all based around being cool. Drew had to fit with them, and if he slipped up he’d probably be no better than the people he bullied. (Middle School’s a lawless land.)

And from the Comic Episode it’s sort of implied Drew didn’t go to Middle School with Henry or Liam, so I’m gonna assume they met sometime in High School.

And I think a reason Drew became friends with these two absolute losers is because they weren’t really all that cool. They’re just two goofballs, so Drew probably didn’t have to worry about being cool around them. (Same goes for why he hangs out with Jake, too.) He’s friends with them all because he’s not really too concerned about appearing cool. He can slip up now and then and know it won’t result in anything. And they make him look cooler by comparison-

(I also like the idea that Drew dropped the Honors classes he’d been taking sometime in Sophomore or Junior year just to be with his friends. I like to think he had to argue with his parents for a while just so they’d let him.)

My final note is on Jake. Drew- Drew has a crush on him. That’s simply canon. (Trust me guys it’s gonna be confirmed in S2 I promise-) So he gets really possessive and controlling because he doesn’t want Jake to leave like everyone else in his life did. He doesn’t want Jake to abandon him, so he will do anything in his power to prevent that.

So that’s all I got for the backstory. Now to talk about the affects.

So because Drew’s parents were never around, he probably had this complex he isn’t really worth much. Otherwise, why wouldn’t they find more time for him? And because he never really felt love as a child, he struggles to find worth in himself. He’s unable to find happiness in himself because he was never taught how to love himself. (And it’s hard to love yourself if you feel like no one loves you.) So his only source of happiness is his friends. (I’ve done a separate post about this topic but essentially Drew is co-dependent because they’re his only escape from his loneliness and self-hatred.)

And as another way to cope with his problems, Drew brags about his possessions and picks on others constantly. It’s a way to make himself to look better than others. To make himself seem like someone worthwhile.

And because Drew cannot love himself, he finds ways to be wanted. To be needed, to be worth something.

Which is why he spends thousands on his friends. Not only is it the only way he knows how to show his love, it’s also how he knows he’s needed. If he can buy his friends anything they want, why would they ever leave him? They’d have no reason to.

It’s why he kinda lets Zoey walk all over him in their relationship. It’s why he so casually buys Jake a laptop and a literal Switch. It’s all so they still need him. And all he wants in exchange is their care.

So when Zoey cheats and Jake lies, it crumbles his very worldview. He thought they needed him. He thought they cared. But to him, it was all a lie. And it all circles back to him feeling worthless and useless all over again.

TDLR: Drew’s parents neglected him for a majority of Drew’s life and he desperately needs therapy because of it. And he has depression probably. And at least like 5 of his problems could’ve been solved with a hug and simple reassurance.

[pastara-cell]

Not a traffic/hermitblr post, But i’ve fallen back into the the music freaks fandom for probably around a month, so I wanna post thoughts.

I’ve seen WAYYYY too much shit about drew getting a redemption arc. Guys, redemption arc makes him no longer the antagonist, and as much as i’d love for him to get a happy ending, I think We are missing a very obvious plot point here that not enough people are capitalising on, and that is a COMPLETE VILLAIN ARC.

Okay okay, hear me out. I know that, on the surface, this seems like it wouldn’t happen, drew’s stated that he’s done with jake, and to be honest, he seems like he’d be way to upset to get revenge, and I dont think he’d be the type for it either. He’d probably just ignore jake. HOWEVER-

He already hated the club, and what do you get when you mix hormonal teenage boys with back to back bombshells at once (jake spending less time with them, then finding out zoey cheated on him, losing jake, and probably some other stuff,I need to rewatch tmf)? You get an absolute minefield of emotions, ready to blow up the entire field if so much as a stone is thrown at it.

This is where the ultimate villain arc sets in. First few weeks, maybe 1 or 2, drew’s not gonna do shit. He’s gonna be grieving and probably honestly crying himself to sleep, you CANNOT tell me he wasn’t 2 seconds away from sobbing in the drakeup fight. However, after those 2 weeks, this little shit(/pos) is gonna go full on Regina George, World Burn style.

In the past, Drew has (canonically) been the one to start verbal fights, but let other people do the fighting while he just watched and laughed. Not anymore though, because now he’s pissed and petty and is probably feeling the teenage equivalent of his world pretty much ending. Nothings gonna be the same again, so why bother?

I feel like he’d projecting heavily, starting fights with the music club and even other people for even so much as provoking him. I don’t think these fights would ever go past swearing, insults, and maybe a finger shoved into a chest to point at them, as I don’t think drew’s the kind to get too physical, However, I can absolutely see him screaming at the top of his lungs at Luke Because He knocked over his lunch tray or something, which would probably spiral into a fight with zander

Small inconveniences and remarks would feel like a stab in the chest to drew, causing him to lash out. And one small fight could definitely domino into a WHOLE arc. I’ll list a theoretical example for this scenario, expanding on that tray idea from earlier (This is just one way of how this route could go, and is just for example)

>Luke bumps into drew, knocking his tray down. Probably apologises

>Drew doesn’t give two craps about apologies at this point, and yells at him, probably calling him a name and getting more annoyed than usual

>Zander spots Drew yelling at luke, and comes over to protect him. Luke tries to get zander to go off, knowing he’ll probably make it worse. Zander doesn’t listen, and yells at drew, probably something along the lines of “the hell is your problem?!”

>Drew yells at Zander too, and it begins to go back and forth. Definitely name calling, maybe pushing or shoving if someone got too close

>if a teacher hasn’t already seen them, then I feel like hailey would go over. Jake would probably follow behind, but be out of drew’s vision for a bit

>Probably spirals into drew vs zander and hailey, while luke tries to break them up and jake just kinda standa there.

>Drew starts screaming at them, is probably overwhelmed with everything all at once, because emotions

>I feel like this is when Jake would step in, and tell drew to back the fuck off. He’d probably say it nicer, but definitely would be like “hey, quit yelling at them! Its not a big deal, just clean it up!”

>Drew, at this point, probably not wanting to deal with all 4 people at once, would leave, probably taking henry and liam with him

And then, seeing as how a lunch tray could probably set him off, we’d rinse and repeat this and other scenarios until drew just snaps. You’d get tired of constantly feeling as if you’re battling the world with every inconvenience too right? Insert mission Burn book!

Mission burn book is essentially what I like to call drew’s way of getting “revenge” on the club. (Name is 100% inspired by mean girls.) Whether it effects jake (I personally think it would be targeted at the club in general, drew not even caring jake was in it any more) or not, It’d be something drastic. Definitely a 2 in the morning, chugged 4 cans of redbull and 2 monsters decision.

I feel like it’d definitely effect them socially, maybe outcasting them even more than they were before. Infact, outcasting them SO BADLY, that essentially everyone in the club starts to get bullied. And this makes for great angst, and flashbacks to middle school jake!!

Drew, meanwhile, would sit back and watch the chaos, making sure to keep henry and liam out of it. Maybe he’d regret it a bit. Maybe he wouldn’t. But it either way, he’d go all out.

TLDR: guys make him evil stop making him get a redemption arc, the potential with evil popular teenage boys is actually so high

[ofthecaravel]

Cowboys Are Frequently Secretly Fond Of Each Other

A Danny Wagner x Sam Kiszka fic where Danny is a cowboy and Sam really likes cowboys

Tags: Cowboys, closeted feelings, pining, angst, fluff, some steaminess at the end but nothing explicit, happy ending, stupid idiots

Words: 10k

---

This was Danny’s favorite part of the rodeo, this final lap around the outer ring while whatever poor cattle lay protesting on the dirt ground, restricted by which expertly tied knot he decided to twist into his lasso for that evening’s show. And, yes, he did do it to get a good look at all the whistling girls that lined the fence, but mostly he did it because he wanted to listen to all those cheers and screams for him as long as he could before it seemed too cocky. When he was steering his trusty stocky steed around, with sweat rolling down his forehead and his chest heaving as he caught his breath, the only thing he could truly focus on was drinking in the sound of his name screamed again and again. 

Imagine his surprise when he found something new to snap him out of the haze that the cheers drowned him in, no less on an otherwise standard night.

It was a face, staring up at him through a curtain of dark lashes and half obscured from the flannel sleeves it had burrowed into, propped up against the gated fence by impossibly long legs and worn out boots. At first glance, Danny figured it was one of the usual girls that rushed to the fence after the last knot had been tied, but as he approached and the face lifted higher to him, he realized it was neither. This was a man, fresh faced and femininely handsome, with his mouth ajar and his lower lash line glowing pale in the fluorescents, giving him the appearance of a doll in grubby country garb. Danny tried to brush his eyes past him without lingering too long, and yet when he rode past, he got a foreign shiver in the pit of his stomach that stabbed him anxiously. When he reached his exit area, he found himself riding past it, and the commentator made an amused remark about this extra victory lap as Danny took his hat off his head and shook his dusty curls loose. As he approached the man again, he was surprised to realize his hand had a shake to it as he leaned off his horse and planted his cowboy hat on the man’s head. For a fraction of a second, his pinky grazed the crown of his head, and the feeling of the silken quality of his hair brushing Danny’s knuckle was enough to make his throat go dry as he strode confidently on. There was a crest of yells and shrieks in the moments after he gave away his hat, but he didn’t dare sneak a peek over his shoulder, instead giving his usual wave and finally steering his horse through the exit. 

Now, another thing Danny was used to was having a few girls flit up to him after the rodeo and pay him even more attention. If they were lucky, he’d buy them a drink and send them home with a kiss on the cheek, but he promised himself he wouldn’t let himself become the kind of rodeo sleaze that took advantage of the near rockstar mystique they held in a small town like Silver Creek. This gentlemanly approach didn’t keep them away, if anything it drew them in even more. But on that night, he noticed an acute lack of nervous titters trying to catch his attention as he tended to his horse in his stall. He still noticed the occasional peeking of pink lipped faces around the corner and muffled chatter outside the barn, but there wasn’t so much as a shoulder tap for him that night. Danny found himself a little annoyed at this lack of company, but was quickly rewarded when he eventually loped out of the barn and turned to find himself face to face with the boy with the dark lashes. He looked a little startled to see Danny, but eased into a shy smile.

“Hi,” he said, clearing his throat slightly. “Uh, I wanted to make sure you got your hat back before you left for the night.”

“Oh!” Danny laughed, running a hand through his hair. “Well, aren’t you a peach?”

“You sure were great out there,” the other man continued, his voice restrained and bashful as he held out Danny’s hat to him. “Everybody around me was totally jealous.”

“I suppose I’ve got a fan or two,” Danny smirked, plucking the hat from his hand. “Can’t say I’ve seen you here before. First time at a rodeo?”

“Oh, no, definitely not,” the other man chuckled. “My brothers and I moved here from Kentucky a few weeks ago, but we’ve taken so long getting settled in that it took me this long to scope out how you folks like to do it.”

“Did we live up to your standards?”

“Definitely not.”

He gave Danny a wicked grin and Danny’s eyebrow immediately shot up with a scowl. The ease of their conversation was fluttering his insides in a warm, almost uncomfortable way, but he couldn’t help but go along with this stranger’s bite.

“Really?” Danny fake scoffed and shook his head. “I find that hard to believe. The Deputy Star Rodeo is by far the best in the state, ask anybody.”

“Well, maybe there’s a reason it’s the Deputy Star and not the Sheriff’s Star,” the stranger shrugged innocently. He had a lingering smirk on his lips, and Danny let his gaze rest on them a moment longer than he meant to before he flicked his eyes up to meet his. At this close range and in the warm light leaking from the barn, Danny could see their dark honey color underneath all those lashes. For the first time, he felt himself rendered a little speechless. He was so bashful, yet so brash, and Danny was reeling.

“You ride?” Danny challenged. Immediately, the stranger’s face froze up, blinking a few times absently before shaking his head no. Danny frowned at his odd reaction. 

“Well,” he started, shifting the hat in his hands for a moment before handing it back to the man. “If you’re gonna criticize our rodeo, I recommend you give it a try.”

The stranger, with an odd glint in his eye, reached out slowly and took the hat from Danny’s hand, never breaking eye contact. 

“I’m Sam,” he finally introduced himself, putting it back on his head. Danny felt a quiet thrill at the sight, his hat on that head. Danny nodded and tipped an invisible hat of his own at him.

“I’m sure you’ll be able to find my name in your program,” Danny purred, shooting him a wink before turning to walk away. He got a few feet before Sam piped up again. 

“See you next week,” Sam called after him. “Danny.” 

Danny, still walking, didn’t even fight the smile that crept onto his face.

--

On his next night off, Danny decided to spend some time at the local bar. He was pretty sore from the previous night's tussle with a particularly stubborn bull, and he knew a drink or two would help melt away some of the strain on his muscles. Having grown up in this town, Carson’s Bar and Grill was a staple that had gone largely unchanged since Danny’s youth, having mapped out its familiarities when he was a young boy tagging along with his father to get a cream soda while his dad shot pool. He’d already been thrown off his rhythm days prior by Sam, and changes seemed to be few and far between in his life, so Danny found himself nearly jumping out of his scuffed up boots when he swung open the door to Carson’s and was greeted by a swell of raucous fiddling. The occasional set of live music started up every once in a while, but Silver Creek only had a handful of musicians worth a lick listening to. And this fiddling was good. Really good. 

Danny turned towards it and saw a man with flyaway chestnut waves sawing on a rickety old fiddle, his bright slice of smile on full display as his boot stamped on the offbeats. Several people had turned their tables towards him and were raptly watching, shouting and smacking their palms to the music. Next to the fiddler was a man on a chair, stamping his boots similarly and clapping along, his curls bobbing as he nodded his head. During a crescendo, both men scrunched their noses in unison, and Danny realized they had to be twins. The man on the chair cleared his throat before opening his mouth and singing along to the violin with a unique, scratchy voice.

“Johnny, rosin up your bow and play your fiddle hard,” he sang, his smile leaking through into the lyrics. “Cause Hell’s broke loose in Georgia, and the devil deals the cards!”

Danny couldn’t help but grin, his mood already considerably lifted as he approached the bar and ordered two fingers of whiskey, accepting it gratefully and nodding along to the music as he sipped it. 

“Hey, Wagner, heard you lost your hat at Sunday’s show,” rasped the regular next to him, giving him a wry smile wrought with missing teeth. Danny laughed and shrugged.

“What can I say,” Danny said, lifting the glass to his lips. “If you give ‘em a piece of the action, it keeps ‘em coming back.”

The man chuckled and clapped a hand on Danny’s back before swiveling his stool to face the fiddle playing, leaving Danny to stare into his drink as he realized that what he said wasn’t entirely true. Now that he was thinking about it, he’d had three shows since the night he’d given Sam his hat, but he hadn’t seen Sam since. 

Not that he cared. He finished his drink with a fast swallow and winced, burying the thought with the burn of the alcohol in his throat. 

As if summoned, the first thing Danny noticed when riding out for his next show the following day was Sam. He was in a seat this time, chatting with the man next to him as if the show hadn’t begun at all. His flannel was loose and fluttered around his collarbone, and the jean cutoffs he was sporting were the shortest Danny had ever seen on a man. Positioned jauntily atop his plaited hair was Danny’s hat. 

A day show for Danny meant a break from his usual tie down routine, instead getting to practice his breakaway roping, chasing down a steer with his lasso using tricks learned in early age that he now aimed to perfect. He stilled his ride in their stall, pulling the lengths of his lasso through his calloused hands, the rumble of the crowd and huffs of his target in the stall next to his lost on his ears as he tried to shake off an unexpected bout of jitters. He did this routine a thousand times, and the crowd ate it up every time. What was he getting so worked up about?

The announcer introduced him and the event, sneaking in a snide comment here and there about Danny’s prodigal rodeo history and his affinity for cattle, and Danny tried to let it calm him as he adjusted his position on the saddle and waited for the starting call. It beeped loudly and Danny was off, racing after the speedy little cow as he circled his lasso over his head. When he sped past, he snuck a side eyed look towards the bleachers where he’d seen Sam, and felt a stab of annoyance when he saw that Sam was still talking to the person next to him. He caught a glimpse of his full smile and Danny’s adrenaline piqued, whipping his head around and tossing his lasso blindly towards the steer, securing it around its throat as it kept anxiously buzzing around the arena. A chorus of cheers rose up and he slowed his horse, hearing his time score and curling his fist triumphantly when it was up there with some of his best times. Danny started his victory lap, tossing kisses and winks to the usuals gathering around the ring, scanning the droves of pretty faces and deciding if there was anyone he was particularly drawn to. Usually it wasn’t much of a struggle, but he felt strangely neutral about each face he passed, even cringing a little when he let his thoughts wander a little past where he usually let them go. Suddenly, none of them seemed very appealing at all. For the first time, Danny wondered where he could go after his second event later on to avoid any girls talking to him.

Danny decided to let one of the stable workers tend to his horse after the show, and everyone gave him a properly hard time when he insisted he needed to take it easy that evening. He made up a little white lie about a strained muscle and they all pitched in a cigarette and sent him off with a chorus of lighthearted yet condescending condolences. As Danny strode out of the barn, he stuck one of the cigarettes to his bottom lip and started digging in his jeans pocket for his box of matches. 

“Need a light?”

There was Sam, standing where he’d been when he’d brought Danny his hat, only this time he was making no move to remove it and had his head tilted in an innocent curiosity. Danny let out an amused exhale through his nose,  appraising Sam with an incredulous look as he removed the cigarette from his mouth and pinched it between his fingers.

“If you’re offering,” Danny answered, holding it out towards Sam. Sam pulled out a lighter from his impossibly small shorts pocket, Danny trying to not acknowledge how tight they clung to Sam’s toned legs as he spun the spark wheel and held the flame to the paper. It caught quickly and Danny brought it to his lips, inhaling deeply and nodding in appreciation as he let the smoke unfurl out through his nostrils, a trick some older cowboys had taught him. Of course, they’d taught him to impress the girls, but his reflexes told him to do it now.

“Can I bum one off of you?” Sam asked boldly, his eyes roundening ever so slightly in pleading.

“First my hat, now my smokes,” Danny mumbled, pulling one out of his pocket and handing it over to Sam, holding back a shiver as Sam’s cool fingers brushed his as he took it from Danny and lit it up. “Can’t say I appreciate being treated as a general store, stranger.”

“Stranger?” Sam parroted with a smile, blowing smoke out of the side of his mouth as he leaned his shoulder against the side of the barn. “Can’t even remember my name? Owch.”

“I’m not sure you’ve earned it,” Danny snipped. “You don’t even pay attention during my events.”

Sam’s dark brows raised slightly as his cheeky smile spread across his tanned face, a little color seeping into his cheeks as he let out a little laugh. Danny’s brow furrowed further, his annoyance towards Sam growing even more.

“And how would you know that?”

It was Danny’s turn to flush, stalling his response by taking a deep drag of his cigarette and tossing a look over his shoulder as if he was looking for something or someone. He turned back to Sam after a moment, who was still wearing a satisfied grin.

“A true cowboy takes the time to acknowledge the audience all while corralling his cattle,” Danny explained steadily, as if he really believed that. “Plus, you’re still wearing my hat. I’d know my own hat from a thousand yards.”

“Ah,” Sam accepted, nodding sagely, clearly not buying it. “Hat, gotcha. Makes sense.”

“Who are you waiting for?”

“You.”

“Oh,” Danny said dumbly, beginning to grow frustrated by how much this person was stringing his nerves out with so few words. Sam’s mere presence was making him itchy from head to toe and he couldn’t pin down why. “What can I do you for?”

“My brothers wanted me to ask you if you came into Carson’s yesterday,” Sam explained, flicking ash off his cigarette. 

“Yeah,” Danny answered simply. “Do I know them?”

“You might’ve recognized them as the yahoos with the fiddles.”

“Those were your brothers?” Danny blurted, his eyebrows shooting up. “Holy cow. They’re fantastic musicians, please give them my compliments.”

“Can do,” Sam muttered, a little bitterness in his voice. “I’m really just here to prove a point. I told them it was you who gave me the hat, but they didn’t believe me.”

“Were you there?” Danny asked, his heart beginning to race as he combed his memory of the night for a glimpse of Sam’s memorable face. “Gee, I don’t-”

“They thought you were way out of my league,” Sam chuckled, taking a long inhale of his cigarette and wearing it down to a nub as Danny blinked blankly at him. 

“I…don’t follow,” Danny stammered as Sam dropped the cigarette and stamped it into the dirt with the heel of his boot. 

“I didn’t think you would,” Sam giggled. “I guess what they say about a cowboy’s intellect isn’t too far off. So talented and yet…”

Sam clucked his tongue with a shake of his head and Danny grimaced, his cheeks flushing angrily as he took Sam’s blow. Sam approached him, gently sliding his hand up Danny’s bicep, his featherlight touch enough for all of Danny’s adrenaline to slam into him at once and slow his breathing. 

“I’ll explain it real easy for you, cowpoke,” Sam said softly, lifting himself up on his tip toes and lowering his voice as he spoke in Danny’s ear. “I think you’re cute.”

Danny froze. Zeroing in on the feeling of Sam’s warm breath on his neck and the faintly sweet and smoky smell of his cologne, he felt a cold sweat break out over his skin as Sam chuckled against his ear and then lowered himself again, combing Danny’s expression as Danny fought not to let his cigarette fall from his lip. Danny recovered pretty quick, laughing softly and looking down at his boots, seeing how close Sam’s expensive seafoam green ones were to his own dusty, worn out pair.  

“Ah,” Danny said quietly, hoping Sam didn’t see the heat he felt warming his cheeks. “Sorry, partner, I don’t quite swing that way.”

He met Sam’s eye, expecting disappointment written all over his face, but instead Sam looked disappointed with him. His brow was arched, his head was cocked again, and his body language said what he wasn’t saying: I don’t believe you. 

Danny felt the need to prove himself to Sam, to really convince him that he was not interested in the slightest. That he was a real red blooded American cowboy with a girl on each arm. But once he’d said it and Sam was looking at him like he was an idiot, his mind started racing as he heard a little voice that he was all too familiar with speaking up in the back of his head, reminding him of just who had begun popping up in Danny’s dreams and driving him crazy during what was supposed to be his times of ultimate focus. 

“Okay,” Sam answered softly, his hand still maddeningly pressing into Danny’s bicep, the layer of cloth separating their skin a godsend for Danny’s sudden onslaught of dizziness. 

“It’s just…” Sam trailed off, finally removing his hand and shaking his head. “Nah, never mind. You have a good night, now.”

“What?” Danny asked after him, his heart one beat away from pushing its way out of his chest. “It’s just what?”

“You just…I don’t know,” Sam shrugged. “See, I was talking to this nice guy during the rodeo and he was telling me all about you. Said you’re not like the other cowboys ‘round here. That you’re real respectful to the ladies. Maybe a little too respectful.”

“I don’t do what I do for girls,” Danny retorted harshly.

“Of course, of course. It’s just that I knew a fella like that back home in Kentucky. Real nice guy, real respectful, did what he did and then went right home. Church every Sunday, dinner at his momma’s every Friday. Nobody ever saw him on a proper date with any of those buckle bunnies screaming his name night after night, even when all his other rodeo pals couldn’t keep their hands off of them.”

Sam took a pause, looking off into the distance at the setting sun and smirking to himself, rubbing the back of his neck. He slid his eyes back over to Danny, giving him a chill.

“I knew him,” Sam purred, sucking his teeth and grinning. “I knew him real well. And he reminds me a lot of you.”

Danny, cold again, did nothing more than watch Sam toss him a wink and saunter off, flicking the flame on his lighter on and off as he went. Danny's cigarette finally dropped from his mouth and sizzled out on the ground, and he snapped out of his stupor to curse and defeatedly crush it underfoot. Blood roaring in his ears, he wished more than anything in that moment that Sam would leave him alone and fuck off back to Kentucky so Danny never had to see his mocking grin and swaying hips ever again. 

This sentiment didn't stay at the forefront of his mind for long, much to his chagrin. It seemed his subconscious had other opinions when late that night, with all the lights off and his cock in hand, it was the imagery of Sam’s curling lips and ridiculously small shorts that finally pushed him over the edge with a muffled cry of both satisfaction and frustration.

--

Danny figured that moment of weakness was nothing more than that, but decided that he’d do his best from that point on to avoid seeing Sam. It was Sam’s stupid insinuations that had put those thoughts in his head in the first place, so if he stayed away from him, he’d be sure to have a clear head again. 

And yet, everywhere he turned, there was Sam. Since their smoke session outside the barn, Sam had shown up to every single rodeo. He’d cycle between his rotation of flimsy flannels, sometimes not even bothering to button them up, or he’d tie them up to expose his midriff. His hair would be loose in dark waves, tucked behind his ears, tied into braids, and even once he’d had two plaits encircling his head like a halo. The only consistency in his garb was Danny’s damn hat, sticking out of the crowd like a personal declaration of a vendetta against Danny’s dedication to not look at Sam. 

And it wasn’t just Danny taking note of Sam’s glaring presence. His effeminate confidence was making waves with both women and men in the rodeo circles and everyone who frequented Carson’s, seeing as he’d started showing up with his brothers and playing piano along with them. He was becoming impossible to ignore, but still it seemed that he hadn’t made any actual friends since coming to Silver Creek. Danny had listened in on a conversation between two of the bareback buckers, hearing Sam’s name peppering their confusion surrounding how they each knew a score of people who had made a move on him and been kindly rejected, but only after they’d bought him a drink or two. Danny had frowned and tried to shake the information off, yet he spent the rest of the night spiraling about what the hell Sam was waiting for. And why did he care so much? 

Eventually, Danny realized that there was nowhere for him to hide. Not from Sam, not from his own weird feelings about him, not from himself. He made a new plan: Talk to Sam again, only this time, he was going to get the last word. They’d be conversing on Danny’s terms. He could get some insight into what Sam’s whole deal was and then, finally, move on from the haze that Sam had somehow trapped him in.

After a quick afternoon show, Danny had practically bolted from the stables so he could catch the crowd as they trickled out from the stands. He stood awkwardly on the side of the gravel path and combed through the bodies until he caught a glimpse of a familiar slender figure. Sam was walking and talking with one of Danny’s regular groupies, tossing his braid crimped waves over the shoulder of his maroon flannel as he laughed at something she said. 

“Sam!” Danny yelled before he had the time to think twice. 

Sam startled and looked around him before spotting Danny on the grass, looking back to share a pointed look with the girl before giving her a pat on the shoulder and elbowing his ways sideways through the flow of people to get to Danny. He hooked his thumbs in his belt loops and kept a neutral smile as Sam walked up to him, that familiar smug grin already on his face.

“Hi,” Sam greeted, a giggle at the very end of the word. “Haven’t seen you in a hot minute.”

“Now that’s not true, you come to all my shows,” Danny pointed out. Sam rolled his eyes dramatically. 

“You know what I mean.” 

“If you wanted to see me, you could’ve found me after,” Danny plowed on, unsure of where he was going but too flustered to back out. Sam hesitated, looking genuinely surprised. 

“Yeah, well, I wasn’t really sure if that was something I wanted to do after that painfully nice rejection you dealt me,” Sam admitted, some of the bashfulness that Danny had seen the first night they’d met starting to creep back into his voice. 

“Doesn’t mean we can’t be friends,” Danny declared. He swallowed nervously once he said it and Sam raised his brows in surprise.

“Is that what you want to talk to me about?” Sam asked, his voice low and gravelly, sending a chill down Danny’s spine. “You want to be my friend?”

“I suppose I do,” Danny answered truthfully, taking off his hat and resting it over his chest. “I’m worried we got off on the wrong foot. I know adjusting to a new place can be tough and I figure it might be easier with a friend.”

“Oh, you and your Southern hospitality,” Sam laughed bitterly. “I’m adjusting just fine, if you know what I mean.” His grin became saccharine and suggestive.

“That’s not what I’ve heard,” Danny countered, the speed of his response against his better judgment. The grin slipped off Sam’s face without even a whisper of the petulant protest that Danny expected. Sam scoffed and rolled his eyes again.

“I don’t need your pity,” Sam snipped, crossing his arms. Danny knew Sam was trying to be cool, but even in his cut off shirt and high riding shorts, he looked like a sour faced child. He looked, above all, hurt. Danny’s heart lurched anxiously.

“It’s not pity,” Danny argued truthfully. “I’m not offering you any kind of charity. I just think you and I could be friends. Maybe even good friends.”

Sam narrowed his eyes at Danny, still unconvinced of Danny’s sentiment. But after a moment of deep thought, Sam looked over his shoulder and then back at Danny before extending a hand towards him, his eyes jumping everywhere but Danny’s own.

“Then let’s be friends,” Sam agreed, his lids fluttering slightly when Danny took Sam’s hand in his own.

“Fantastic,” Danny smiled, keeping his cool while an electric pulse shot through his body, its source at the cool center of Sam’s slim palm. “Can I buy you a drink at Carson’s or something? I’ve got the evening off.”

“How friendly,” Sam said sarcastically, pulling his hand away but smiling. “Sure. Let’s just cross our fingers that my brothers aren’t there.”

“Why?” Danny asked, trailing behind Sam as he started walking. 

“If they see you buying me a drink, they’re going to really get the wrong idea,” Sam laughed, grinning at Danny over his shoulder like he hadn’t taken Sam’s teasing words like a rock to the face. Danny laughed, too, playing along with Sam’s light banter, trying not to trip over his own feet. 

Once at Carson’s, Danny bought them both a beer and the two of them got caught up in a casual conversation about their surface level facts. Danny kept a dedicated list of the personal anecdotes that Sam shared with him; he’d been a horse fan since he was young, he had a sister that still lived in Kentucky, he liked Silver Creek but wasn’t a fan of its relentless heat. Danny kept note of other things too, like the way Sam bit the skin on his thumb and very clearly didn’t enjoy the beer Danny had gotten him but sipped politely anyway. He seemed to struggle keeping his eyes on one place at a time, especially when looking at Danny, and often started new topics in the middle of sentences he never got to finish. 

It wasn’t until they had paid the tab and started heading out that Danny realized his plan of taking the lead in their dynamic and getting the last word in had gone completely out the window. He felt nearly drunk while he engaged in the conversation and listened keenly to Sam as they walked down Saguaro Ave., realizing absently that he actually wasn’t sure where Sam was going. But Danny followed him nonetheless, teasing Sam for the wandering way his legs moved as he ambled down the dirt road and sent lizards fleeing from the gravel he kicked up. 

“Oh, please, I’m very graceful,” Sam insisted after nearly avoiding rolling his ankle on a particularly rocky patch of road. “I used to be a dancer, you know.”

“Yeah?” Danny inquired further. “Not sure if I can picture you as a ballerina.”

“Well, I wasn’t quite a ballerina,” Sam laughed, his cheeks glowing red in the golden hour sunlight that soaked them as it poured over the horizon. Sam began walking backwards to face Danny, and a thought popped into Danny’s head, simple and succinct:

 He looks beautiful. 

With flowing limbs and his tan skin burning amber in the dying light of the sun, he couldn’t kick the thought and the rush of emotions it brought. He wanted to walk away as much as he wanted to follow Sam right into the eye of the sun at his back.

 For the first time in hours, he remembered that night where Sam had breathed that confession in his ear, and what it had done to him when he’d gotten home. Danny had been beyond ashamed the moment after he’d finished, and deep down he knew that shame of thinking of him that way and also that it had been Sam was what actually had pushed him to befriend him. How could he stay away? Should he apologize? Did he really swing the way he had promised he didn’t?

Danny was digging himself deeper into his own mind as he walked, not realizing he had fallen silent until Sam did too, looking at Danny like he was crazy until Danny blinked and shook his head.

“Pardon?” he stammered, which was met by a cackle from Sam.

“Where’d you get off to, partner?” Sam asked, mocking Danny’s drawl in the way he stressed ‘partner’. “Daydreaming?”

“That beer is going right to my head, it seems,” Danny lied, running a hand through his hair and shaking his curls out again, forcing a smile. 

“Sure,” Sam said in his light tone that Danny knew meant he didn’t believe a word out of his mouth. “Well, I’ll let you off the hook just this once ‘cause we’re here.”

“Here?” Danny echoed dumbly.

Sam had strolled right up to the door of a small orange stucco house with wide pleated blinds and a half hearted row of flowers by the dusty welcome mat. 

“Here, silly,” Sam smiled. “My house. I thought I’d have to ask you to walk me home but you didn’t ask any questions so I figured I’d just keep on keeping on. I hope I didn’t take you too far from your own place.”

“You kiddin’?” Danny laughed. “I live two streets down.”

“Wow. That’s convenient.”

“Why?” Danny asked a little too urgently and Sam arched a brow at him.

“For, you know, hanging out?” Sam answered. “Like friends do.”

“Yes,” Danny responded. “Of course. I just-”

“Don’t sweat it, cowboy,” Sam cut him off, digging a key out of his pocket and turning towards the door, looking back at Danny with a smile. “See you tomorrow?”

“That’ll be just fine,” Danny replied, mirroring his soft smile. “You have a good night now.” “You too. Goodnight.”

Danny watched Sam turn the key in the lock and open the door a bit, giving him one more smile before stepping inside. Before he could stop himself, Danny found himself speaking again.

“Hey,” Danny blurted out and Sam stopped in his tracks, facing Danny again with his doe eyes wide and mouth pursed in a moment of curious surprise. 

“Uh,” Danny started again, growing hotter by the minute. “Your man in Kentucky. The one you said that I remind you of.”

“Uh huh,” Sam said softly, leaning his hip against the doorframe. 

“What did you mean by that?”

“Like, why do I think you’re similar?”

“Yes,” Danny said, his voice quiet and a little desperate. 

Sam looked at him for another beat, clearly fighting a smile.

“Well,” Sam began quietly, looking down at his boots for a moment before staring up at Danny through his lashes like he had during that first rodeo. “You’re just a couple of real nice boys who know how to keep their hands to themselves when it’d be real easy not to. You both pay attention to things that the other cowboys don’t.”

“Like?”

“Me.”

Danny’s jaw set and they stared each other down, Sam tilting his head maddeningly to assess Danny’s eyes quickly clouding. 

“And were you two friends?” Danny asked, his words spitting in a way he didn’t have a grasp on.

Sam fell silent. He put a hand back on the door, looked Danny up and down, and then turned back into the house.

“No,” Sam answered curtly. “We were fucking, Danny. Goodnight, now.”

With another little smile and flick of his hair, Sam strode through the doorway and slammed the door behind him, the lock audibly clicking as Danny stood there beet red in the face.

--

Somehow, it was never brought up again. Starting the very next day, Danny and Sam were nothing but the best of friends, even if everyone in town had a very different idea of what was going on between them. They weren't wrong for jumping to conclusions, considering that despite the intense platonic line that seemed to have been drawn on both sides, Danny was falling deeper and deeper into his spiral. For him, the routine of his job and the time spent with other friends became a mechanical compulsion. Everything else to him was nothing but Sam, Sam, Sam.

 He saw him before and after shows, met him for lunch on his measly excuse of a porch, and bought him a drink at the bar every night. Danny never seemed to grow tired of the endless roads their conversations took him down, and as far as he knew, Sam felt the same way. Sam had gotten a job pitching paints and cleaning supplies down at the general store. Even though he met all kinds of people every day, all Sam did was complain about them to Danny. That really made Danny feel special. On a night after a few too many cocktails, Sam had even said it to his face.

"You're the only person I actually like around here," Sam confessed with a rosy cheeked laugh, tapping his nails against his glass. "Everybody at work wants to hit on me or get to know me and it's just so blah. I can't talk to people like I can talk to you."

"I think that's the nicest thing you've ever said to me," Danny chuckled, Sam's words mixing with the alcohol in his blood and warming him up. 

"No way," Sam argued, his dark eyes and blown out pupils overtaking his face as he blinked blindly at Danny. "I'm extremely nice to you."

"Is that what you call it?"

"Oh, you love it."

And Danny did. He really, really did. As much as it embarrassed him, it was Sam's harsher tirades that tended to resurface all those terrifying feelings that Danny tried to push aside to keep their friendship alive. When Sam's tone turned cocky and jeering, all while grinning as sweet as honey while he took fun loving jabs at Danny, Danny would go home with his head spinning and his pants uncomfortably tight. What made it even worse is that Sam seemed to be well aware of his effect on Danny. He had been from the beginning, really, but his persistent flirtation under the guise of friendly teasing never went away. Despite his insistence that he had moved far past his initial crush, Sam liked to prod. And prod and prod and prod.

“Tell me something, Wagner,” Sam began one evening as they sat in rickety chairs on Danny’s leaning porch. “We’ve been friends for a month now.”

“Keen observation,” Danny interjected with a laugh, earning a smack on the arm from Sam.

“I wasn’t done, smartass,” Sam snapped, pointing at him with the neck of his beer bottle. “What I was going to say is that we’ve been friends for a month now and I haven’t seen you on a date one single time. Weren’t you saying you have your pick of the bunch with the rodeo girls?”

“Oh, come on now,” Danny muttered into a sip of his drink, his stomach flipping anxiously. “I do! I just, I’ve taken them all out already.”

“People come from all over the state to see you rope, cowboy. You’ve taken out every girl out of town and in town?”

“Maybe I have,” Danny grinned, winking and turning to stare at the lowering sun before he could catch Sam’s expression. Sam made an incredulous noise. 

“You’re bad at being a cowboy,” Sam accused. It was Danny’s turn to exhale in surprise and offense.

“Bad at being a cowboy? Excuse you?” Danny sputtered, turning in his seat to face Sam, who was smiling smugly at staring firmly out across the street. “How does me not wining and dining a bunch of strangers make me a bad cowboy? I’m a great cowboy, thank you very much.”

“You just keep mentioning how you get hit on all the time by them,” Sam pointed out, a weird edge to his voice. “And you talk a big game. Clearly one of those things ain’t true and, you know what they say, lying isn’t a very becoming trait of a cowboy.”

“Oh, shut up. What do you care, anyway?”

“I don’t,” Sam said tightly. “I’ve just been meaning to inform you you’re a liar.”

“Congratulations, you found one thing I lied about,” Danny drawled sarcastically, rolling his eyes, a trait of Sam’s that he’d picked up. “Everybody lies. I bet you lie all the time.”

“Me? Nah, I’m a truthful little angel.”

“Come on, tell me a lie, Sam. Like you said, we passed the one month mark of friendship. Now we start getting into the real nitty gritty stuff.”

Sam was quiet, biting his tongue as he squinted in deep thought, his finely sculpted profile lit up from the sun in his face. Danny took the opportunity to look at him freely, his heart fluttering like a nervous teenager. 

“I don’t know, man, I don’t think I can conjure a lie on the spot,” Sam finally spoke, shrugging and taking a deep drink.

“Then tell me the last time you lied to me,” Danny pushed on, kicking Sam’s boot with his own. “If at all.”

“Oh, today,” Sam answered immediately.

“What!” Danny laughed. “You answered so fast! What was it?”

“You never said I had to say what it was!”

“Tell me, come on.”

“No!”

“You’re cruel, Sam,” Danny declared dramatically, emptying his beer and shaking his head in disappointment. “I’ve never had a friend as cruel as you.”

“That still makes me special,” Sam whispered, smiling wickedly. It was almost as if he was saying it to himself, and Danny answered it with silence. 

“Hey, we should do something tomorrow night,” Sam suggested. “To toast our friendship.”

“Is that a thing people do?” Danny asked, genuinely curious and trying not to be flustered. Here Sam was again, toeing the line that he himself had drawn. 

“It can be a thing we do,” Sam answered, shrugging innocently again. “We don’t have to.”

“No, no, that could be fun,” Danny answered hurriedly. “Maybe it could be an excuse for me to fire up my oven and actually cook something.”

“You gonna cook me a meal?” Sam asked, his tone bordering between jest and apprehension. 

“I can certainly try,” Danny offered as casually as he could. “Bring me some liquor and I’ll whip us up a certified feast.”

“And will we be eating out cans of the baked bean or corned beef hash variety?”

“No, no, it’ll be a proper dinner,” Danny insisted despite how his brain immediately started second guessing him. “What time you free?”

“I get off work at 5.” 

“It’ll be ready by 6.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“You’ll believe me when you smell how good it is from halfway down the block.”

“There you are talking a big game again,” Sam laughed, his eyes sparkling in the light. “Now my expectations are higher than hopes.”

The truth was that Danny was a horrible cook and an even worse liar, but as he listened to Sam roast him, he figured this might be a perfect opportunity to overcome both of those things. It could be a chance to overcome his lie of being a great cook and actually dish up a meal worth eating, but more importantly, a chance to overcome a particularly choice lie he’d been dancing around since Sam had come into his life. 

After Sam had left, Danny made an official decision. He was going to make dinner, and then after, he was going to tell Sam the truth. Before that, he realized he had to figure out exactly what the truth was. Was it that he’d been breathless since he’d first seen Sam’s face? Or maybe that he’d been sure since long before he met Sam that he was much more prone to being sweet on other men? Danny felt tears springing to his eyes as he laid in bed staring at the ceiling, pushing them away with the rough heel of his hand as he tried to conceptualize how he could fit all his thoughts into a few succinct phrases. Would it be enough to simply tell Sam he cared for him in a way that he didn’t care for anybody else? God, would Sam even want to hear it? His worst fear was that Sam would think Danny just wanted him for the things that all the men Sam had grown to hate had wanted from him. A million questions passed through Danny’s head as he fell into a shallow, restless sleep, hoping he’d awaken with some kind of clarity about what to do.

--

He did not. Instead, Danny chose to chase the morning sunrise with a cup of coffee peppered with a healthy splash from his flask in it, staring hopelessly out the window at the town starting to come to life. It was a rare day where he didn’t have any shows, so he spent the day becoming acquainted with the cookbooks his mother had sent him with when he moved to Silver Creek. When he went through the grocery store line with more than two bags of supplies, the cashier looked genuinely proud of him.

“Got a special guest coming over tonight, cowpoke?” he asked, ringing up bags of vegetables and plastic packages of meat.

“Just decided I need a decent meal is all,” Danny answered. 

Yes, he thought.

 As he hauled his bags home, he wondered if it would be too much to get flowers. Not that there were any florists in Silver Creek, but maybe he could run around town and gather them from the sprouts of natural greenery that were few and far between. He passed the general store and peered through the window hoping for a glimpse of Sam, but came up short. He figured it was probably for the best, he didn’t want to freak himself out any more than he already was. 

For anybody else, it probably wouldn’t have taken as long, but it took Danny the majority of the day to prepare their dinner, taking bites of the produce along the way to make it count as a “lunch”. It was a pretty simple brisket with a side of vegetables, but Danny was very cautious around his kitchen appliances, so he worked slow and steady and only cut his fingers once. He dragged out his only nice dining table cloth and set it down, standing idly with one hand on it as he had a mental battle about whether or not candles would be too extravagant of a touch, finally deciding against it with a wave of his hand. He stood in front of his mirror a while, switching between shirts before settling on a warm button down with its first few buttons undone. He shrugged jackets on and off before deciding not to wear one at all, hurriedly throwing on his cleanest jeans and equipping one of his more expensive belt buckles, seeing as it was a special occasion. The minutes before Sam’s arrival were spent panicking that he had gone completely overboard and over thought the entire thing. Danny wrung his hands and paced the length of his voice, circling the dishes in the kitchen a few times before Sam’s distinct knock rang out. Danny let out a quiet but hurried breath of anxiety before smoothing his sweaty palms against his jeans and striding over to the door, pulling together a calm and contented facial expression as he opened the door. 

Sam smiled up at him, cradling a bottle of wine that leaned against his sky blue linen button down. It made his skin look even more sunkissed, along with his pale jeans and white cowboy boots. His hair hung down in thick waves and was topped by, once again, Danny’s tan cowboy hat. Sam hadn’t worn it in a few days and Danny laughed at seeing it, flicking the brim and stepping back to let Sam walk into the house.

“To what do I owe the pleasure of seeing my own hat?” Danny joked as Sam set down the wine bottle.

“It seemed like it was an occasion special enough to warrant its usage,” Sam explained with a smile, looking around and catching a glimpse of the carefully crafted plates that Danny had assembled. “Well, I’ll be. You actually made dinner, you son of a bitch.”

“Have you no faith in me?” Danny asked as he waltzed into the kitchen and opened his silverware drawer to pull out forks and napkins for the both of them. “Come on, have a seat. I’m greatly looking forward to hearing you talk about how great it is.”

“I’ve always admired how humble you are,” Sam teased as he pulled out a chair and took a seat. “Got a wine opener?”

“You know I do,” Danny answered, pulling it out of the same drawer and curling it into his palm as he picked up the plates and brought them over to the table. He set the plates down in their places and handed the wine opener to Sam, who accepted it with a quiet ‘thank you’ and then proceeded to struggle greatly with actually using it. This was much to Danny’s amusement, who insisted over and over that he could just do it, but Sam struggled with it stubbornly until it popped open and he erupted with a triumphant yell. 

They drank out of jam jars and cleaned their plates, much to Danny’s relief. Sam held out on him for the first few bites, but admitted that it was delicious and insisted he wouldn’t provide any extra compliments until Danny stopped clapping and cheering for himself. It wasn’t any different than the other meals and drinks they’d shared in recent times, but as Danny tried to distract himself by keeping up with Sam’s quick wit, he couldn’t stop thinking about how he was going to bring it up. He prayed a moment of quiet would arrive where he could slip in a quick interlude and just get it over with, but their conversations were never wrought with natural pauses. Eventually, they ended up in Danny’s tiny living room, clutching their jars of wine and sitting on opposite ends of Danny’s (thankfully for him) long couch while they talked. 

Danny’s wine began to really hit him after it had gotten so dark that Danny had to start a shoddily assembled fire in the hearth, watching the flame grow with a satisfied pride as he knelt on the floor. 

“That’s really roaring now, huh?” Danny commented proudly.

“That may be the tallest fire I’ve ever seen in a fireplace,” Sam remarked coolly, a snide flirtation in his tone. “I mean, we should really call someone about getting you an award for that.”

“Ha ha,” Danny deadpanned, looking over his shoulder to throw Sam a sour look.

Instead, he saw Sam had migrated to the uncharted middleground of the couch, pulling the throw blanket that Danny had draped over the edge of the couch around his shoulders as he grinned at Danny. In the firelight, Sam was completely aglow with soft orange light, his eyes and hair taking on an unearthly fiery quality that somehow made him look gentle. Danny felt himself looking a second too long, and then a few seconds too long, and then nearly a minute long as he gawked at Sam and felt his stomach sinking lower and lower. Sam’s smile drifted down into a neutral expression and then a confused one as Danny tried to play off his blatant staring by looking back into the fire, poking it absently as if it needed it.

“What?” Sam asked.

“What?” Danny asked right back.

“You got all weird for a second.”

“I didn’t.”

“You did!” Sam laughed like it was obvious, which it was. “Are you tipsy or something?”

“I guess,” Danny answered weakly, knowing his meek language was even more suspicious than he was already being.

“You’re an odd duck,” Sam chuckled, wrapping the blanket further around his shoulders and nuzzling in. “Your fire isn’t working yet, I’m still chilly.”

“Patience, sheesh,” Danny quipped as he got up and away from the fire, finding the courage to sit back down on the couch, choosing a slightly closer spot than he had before and taking a sip of his wine. “I can feel it, it’s warmer over here now.”

“Mm,” Sam hummed, taking his own drink. “Maybe you’re right.”

When Sam leaned forward to put his jar down on the small table that accompanied the couch, his legs butterflied outwards and his knee dug into Danny’s own, which was spaced wide by his spreading sit. Danny tried not to jerk at the touch, and he struggled to remain still and unfazed when Sam leaned back against the plush cushion and his legs didn’t shift at all, the denim of their jeans now the only thing barely separating them. Danny looked down at the spot where their knees leaned on each other and, stupidly, looked to Sam as if expecting an explanation. Sam said nothing, instead staring blankly at Danny as if nothing had happened. But Danny knew that nothing truly meant nothing to Sam, and he looked away and into the fire to sit in the realization that if he needed a moment to act upon, it was now. He opened his mouth slightly to take in a breath of confidence, hesitating before turning to Sam. However, in typical fashion, Sam was too fast for him.

“Hey,” Sam rasped quietly, moving his knee away from Danny’s and crossing it over the other. He pushed himself up a little higher in his seat. “Um, I kind of wanted to say something.”

“Oh,” Danny blurted in shock, his chest seizing with fear and sending cold trickles through his body. “Me too, actually, but you can, uh, go first.”

“It’s nothing, it’s nothing, I just…” Sam trailed off, rubbing nervously at his chin before looking at Danny, his eyes full of ferocious sincerity. “It’s a stupid question, actually.”

“I’m open to it,” Danny replied honestly.

“Cool, cool.”

Sam paused again and Danny thought he was going to pass out from the anticipation.

“I wanted to ask…why. That sounds too simple, wait,” Sam stammered, squeezing his eyes and wrinkling his brow. “I wanted to ask you why you gave me your hat.”

“My hat,” Danny repeated absentmindedly, hoping the rush of color that he felt in his face wasn’t visible in the firelight. “That’s not a silly question.”

“You don’t have to answer it if you don’t want to,” Sam insisted, backing away from his previous surge of confidence. “Like, I’m sure it’s nothing crazy, I was just, you know, there were a lot of people so I was wondering if you had some kind of…method. Or if it was totally random. I don’t care either way, I’m just, you know, curious.”

Sam let out a tiny breath as he ran out of steam and looked at Danny expectantly, the flickering visage of the fire fanning across his curious face and pulsing like a string of lights woven through his hair. Danny truly had no idea how to answer that even though the truth rested at the forefront of his mind.

I picked you because you were the most beautiful person I’d ever seen in my life, Danny answered in his own mind. I’d never even done that before that day. I’m lucky I didn’t fall off my horse the way that I couldn’t tear my eyes from your face. I gave you my hat because I wanted you to come find me and drag me into your life and cup my face in your hands. I wish I hadn’t been so terrified of getting what I wanted in that moment. But I want to stay in your life in any capacity and I want you to know that no matter what we are to each other, I would’ve given you the hat each and every time. Even if I never saw you again, it would’ve been worth it for the single strand of your hair wrapping around my finger for a second or two. 

In reality, Danny was silent. He feigned deep thought before he realized that he wasn’t remotely capable of saying what he thought. But he didn’t want to leave Sam hanging for an answer in this frustrating seizure of his mental capability. In a single moment of lucidity, Danny found a way to answer Sam the way he wanted to.

Danny, twisting at the hip, moved forward and caught Sam by the back of his neck before sealing the space between them and kissing him. He felt his brain blink to a blank channel as he felt the pressure of Sam’s soft lips against his own and the weight of Sam’s hair falling over the back of his hand. After what felt like a century of passing time, Sam’s mouth opened against his with a gasp of air and a shaky whimper, pressing against Danny with a rush of grabbing hands and angled jaws. Danny’s brain roared with a rush of blinding serotonin and he nearly laughed with relief as he pawed at Sam’s hip and dove his fingers under Sam’s shirt, his fingers sliding against the soft, sensitive skin of Sam’s slender waist. Sam, falling apart in a shower of whines and sighs, messily shifted his body further onto the couch and eventually onto Danny’s lap, sitting harshly and making Danny let out an involuntary groan. He moved the hand cradling Sam’s cheek down to his hips and dug his fingers in, anchoring Sam against him and causing Sam to let out a delicious whimper.

“Baby,” Sam whispered against Danny’s mouth, unable to tear away. Danny sighed in response, pulling Sam closer by the hip. He relaxed into the warmth of Sam’s arms encircling his neck and propped his head up against them to angle perfectly against Sam’s mouth. Danny was pretty convinced he never wanted to come up for air, but eventually his reflexes made him jerk his head back ever so slightly so he could breathe in a deep rush of cool night air, his mouth slick with spit. Sam’s eyes were round and starry, his pupils nearly overtaking the warm brown of his irises as he stared breathlessly down at Danny, the both of them panting in silence as they marveled at the other.

“Hi,” Danny whispered, his voice dry and gravelly and unmistakably shy.

“Hi,” Sam answered brightly, wiggling slightly under Danny’s touch. “So, what is it you wanted to say?”

“That was-that was basically what I was going to say,” Danny said between little gasps, swallowing and staring unabashedly at Sam’s glossy and flushed lips. “Does that answer your question?”

“Yeah,” Sam relinquished, pressing kisses to the high planes of Danny’s cheekbones and traveling down to his cheeks. “Knew you were a dirty liar.”

“Sue me,” Danny chuckled weakly. “Sorry for-”

“Don’t sweat it,” Sam interjected. “I knew you’d figure it out.”

“Aw, so sweet to me,” Danny murmured, leaning in to chase another kiss. Sam met him and dragged his fingers through Danny’s curls as he held Danny close to him, smiling against his lips when his fingers caught a little knot and Danny let out a muffled whine of pain. Danny reached up and slowly pushed the blanket off of Sam’s slim shoulders, hearing it drop to the floor as he smoothed a large palm up Sam’s chest, his fingers brushing over the patch of skin exposed at his throat and making him shiver. 

Danny figured that Sam would be the one to walk the line of ferality, but as the minutes passed and their button downs slowly migrated to the floor, he found himself being worked into a frenzy like he’d never experienced before. Every miniscule buck of Sam’s hips and the scent of his heady, wine sweet breath was enough to make Danny’s blood pound in his ears and knock the breath out of him. He had a pretty good idea of where this was headed, and he was suddenly very nervous when he realized that when they got there, he’d have absolutely no idea what to do. 

Eventually, Danny pulled away and took a moment to admire Sam again. His slender, sweaty chest was heaving and he reached up to pat his hat further down onto his hair, which swayed as he tilted his head to try and evaluate Danny’s expression.

“You look like a regular cowboy,” Danny complimented and Sam laughed, shooting him a wink and holding the brim of his hat as he started to rock back and forth on Danny’s lap. The friction was enough to make Danny grunt and grasp Sam’s hips again, trying to hold him in place and failing miserably. Sam leaned forward towards Danny, propping himself on the back of the couch as he kissed up Danny’s throat.

“Do you remember when we first met and you asked me a question?” Sam asked breathily in Danny’s ear, slowing his faux cowboy trot on Danny’s lap but not fully stopping.

“I can’t think of much of anything with you looking like that,” Danny replied honestly and Sam chuckled in his ear, the vibration sending another delicious jolt down Danny’s already painfully sensitive neck.

“Well, you did,” Sam continued. “And I lied to you. Just wanted to apologize for that.”

“What did I ask you..?”

Sam sat upright again, holding Danny by the jaw and giving him another kiss before murmuring his answer against his lips.

“You asked me if I ride. I said I don’t, but that whole time I was thinking that for you, I’d love nothing more than to show you just how well I can ride.”

Danny gawked at him for a moment, Sam drinking in his shocked silence with a smug grin as he brushed Danny’s hair back sweetly and softly bit his bottom lip. 

“I don’t…” Danny trailed off, shaking his head slightly. “I don’t know what to do.”

“We don’t have to do anything you don’t want to,” Sam whispered. “But if you do, I’ll show you.”

“I do,” Danny blurted immediately. “I do, yes, I just, you know, be patient with me.”

“Of course,” Sam said gently. “Can you just promise me one thing?”

“Anything.”

“Can we still be friends after this? Turns out I actually really like having a friend, especially if it’s you.”

“Of course we can still be friends,” Danny answered, cupping Sam’s cheek and smoothing his thumb soothingly over his soft skin. “As long as you don’t mind me being very fond of you along with it.”

“I expect it, actually,” Sam smiled. “Now, will you take me to bed?”

“What’s the magic word?” Danny grinned, nuzzling his nose against Sam’s as Sam rolled his eyes and locked his arms around Danny’s neck once more.

“Please,” Sam replied faux begrudgingly. “Please take me to bed.”

“Very good,” Danny hummed, wrapping his arms around Sam’s waist and hoisting him up around his hips before standing up like he weighed nothing at all. “That’s my boy.”

“Oh, I’m yours now?” Sam teased, locking his legs around Danny’s lower back as Danny slowly made his way down the hall towards his bedroom.

“If you’d like to be, sure,” Danny said warmly. Sam paused for a moment, a small giddiness starting to buzz in his face.

“If I was, you wouldn’t hide me away?” Sam asked quietly, his voice catching slightly but playing it off by clearing his throat. “You’d tell people I was yours?”

“I’ll scream it from the rooftops if you want me to,” Danny replied, setting Sam down on the quilt atop his four poster bed. His heart sank as he thought of the times when Sam hadn’t had someone as proud to have him, which seemed like a pretty ridiculous concept to Danny. Now that he knew he had him, it was going to take a lot of restraint not to announce it to every person he passed on the street. Sam smiled shyly up at him, almost grateful.

“I’ll be yours, then,” Sam purred, leaning back on his elbows. “But you’re going to have to come and get me first.”

Danny grinned down at him, closing the door behind him before descending passionately on Sam and causing him to erupt in a burst of giggles that morphed into a stream of sighs and gentle moans that carried on long into a blue morning. Danny had spent so much of his life chasing after things that ran from him, even after he’d caught them and tied them down. Now here was something that had run after him, and as the time passed in Sam’s orbit and he felt the sensation of being tied down himself, he realized that this might’ve been what he really wanted all along.

--

Taglist: @jakekiszkapunchmeintheface  @s0livagant​  @holdingup-fallingsky​ @t00turnttrauma​ @the-starcatcher​ @streamsofstardust​ @spark-my-nature​ @joshkiszkashusband @meetingthestoryteller

[starsurfacemortalkombat]

Caregiver Baraka MK1 Hcs??

Oh my gosh Baraka!! I love him!!! :] (I did alter his cannon slightly for these, just a warning!!)

TW: Mention of family death, sharp teeth (?), Tarkat disease

<3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

CG Baraka Hcs

🦴 I'm going to ignore some of the cannon in these, like the fact Tarkatan can get spread by touch (I'm pretty sure that's how cannon works??)

🦴 If we ignore cannon, this man is an absolute cuddle bug!!!

🦴 Absolutely adores any type of physical touch

🦴 If we don't ignore cannon, he'll get you as many stuffies, blankies, anything he can to make up for it

🦴 ^ He'll (maybe) at the very most hold your pinky, but one of his deepest fears is accidently giving you Tarkat and he will not put you through that

🦴 I feel like he'd do best with baby regressors

🦴 There's just something so wholesome and peaceful rocking his little one in his arms, smiling as they sleep peacefully or coe at him

🦴 But that doesn't mean he doesn't like other regression ages, he adores all of them!!

🦴 Running around with a toddler, watching a bigger kid do arts and crafts, a puppy that he can scratch behind the ears

🦴 If you ever made him a bracelet, he might actually sob out of joy

🦴 He's been alone for a long time, so he might be a bit (a LOT) overprotective

🦴 He also lost his entire family to Tarkat, so your very important to him

🦴 If you fell and got a small scrape, it's like the world ended to him

🦴 Only really trusts Syzoth to watch after you

🦴 In the New Era, Tarkatan are still being accepted into public spaces, so you'll spend most times in the colony, mostly in his little living area

🦴 Will always make sure to mind his little spikes on his body

🦴 Will wearingly let you touch them, but only if your a bit bigger

🦴 Does not like punishing you, please don't lash out 🥺

🦴 This man cares so much for you, he doesn't like seeing you cry or be naughty

🦴 If you are naughty though, he'll probably send you to the naughty corner (and most likely serve your sentence with you)

🦴 Doesn't yell but honestly, because of Tarkatan his voice might sound a little scary at times

🦴 But surprisingly, really good at lullabies

🦴 His voice is a little raspy, but there's something about it that can probably make you feel really sleepy

🦴 Favorite CG nicknames are Papa & ‘Raka

🦴 Favorite nicknames for you would be Little One, Young One, Sweetheart, Bub

🦴 Would love to kiss your forehead or boo-boos, but unfortunately his sharp teeth don't really let him :(

🦴 Forehead touches are a big must, however, he can do those

🦴 Favorite activity to do with you if either peek-a-boo, or some sort of fun arts and crafts

🦴 He doesn't do the crafts himself, unless you ask, just kinda watches and praises you

🦴 If you ever drew this man, he would keep the picture either on him at all times, or hang it up proudly on his wall

🦴 Does have days where he feels really down and that he can't be a good Papa for you

🦴 ^ He'll try not to show it, but those days can really get to him :(

🦴 All you gotta do on your part is make him a pretty picture and tell him that he's the best Papa in the world!! How dare he ever doubt himself? >:(

🦴 If we ignore cannon, go crash into him with a hug too, it'd really help

🦴 But he really appreciates his little one's big heart

🦴 Will try to get his little anything they want, but the colony isn't always going the best, unless if we compare it to past timelines but that's unfair

🦴 If his little does want something like a new toy or a better sippy cup, you know he's going to try his best

🦴 Might even ask Kitana or Mileena for help to get it (no one messes with them)

🦴 On the topic of the sisters, they absolutely love 'babysit’ you!! (Which is more of a playdate while Baraka supervises)

🦴 (^ It's not that Baraka doesn't trust them or anything. . . . But what if something happens to you when he's not there?!)

🦴 Will make sure to get you the proper diet you need, most Tarkatans only live off meat

🦴 If he can try to sneak you some candy, he most definitely will

🦴 Anything that makes his baby happy, makes him happy <3

<3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

[thatchickwithtoomanyhobbies]

Glasses (Stiles)

***Stiles reminds me of the type to constantly be losing his glasses only to find them in the most obvious place, so thus this story was born. He also reminds me of the type to have the worst temper you can imagine if his buttons get pushed enough. So please enjoy a very angry Drew Stiles.***

“Aiello, have you seen my glasses?” Of course Drew Stiles went and lost his glasses again for the third time that week.

“Unless they’re on your face where they’re supposed to be, I have no idea,” Aiello mumbled in his half-asleep state, not even bothering to roll over on his cot in his direction.

He was certain he put them on the crate next to his cot. If he didn’t find them real quickly, he was in deep trouble- not only with Pierson but because he couldn’t even see a foot in front of him without them.

“Come on! Help me!” he whined. It wasn’t like he could just go out and get a new pair somewhere. Everything looked like his baby cousin’s finger paintings without his glasses. If he couldn’t see, he’d probably step on a land mine and get himself or someone else killed.

“Ugh! Fine,” Aiello groaned, rolling out of his cot. “If it’ll make you shut up, I’ll help you. I can’t believe you interrupted my nap for this.” At that moment, Zussman and Daniels entered the tent.

“What’s going on in here?” Daniels asked Aiello, who was furiously shaking out his blankets looking for the lost glasses.

“This lousy mug went and lost his specs again,” he mumbled, nodding in Stiles’ direction. Of all times when he decides to take a nap it gets interrupted. He was beginning to catch a cold and just wanted to sleep it off before it got any worse.

“Where’d you have them last?” Zussman asked, glancing around the tent. They had to be around there somewhere.

“They were on the crate next to my bed, and now they’re gone! It’s not like they grew legs and walked away!” He was getting angry now, which he hated. He had had a bit of an anger problem when he was younger and although he mostly had it under control now, he could still lash out at people when he was mad enough.

“Alright, just calm down. We’ll look for them,” Daniels said, trying to calm the man. He’d already had his head bitten off by him once, and he would prefer it didn’t happen again.

“Have you looked under the beds yet?” Asked Zuss, getting on his stomach to check for lost spectacles under the cots.

“How am I supposed to look for my glasses when I can’t even see where I’m going?” He yelled.

“You could always look for them by braille,” Aiello snickered. He enjoyed making fun of the man’s near-blindness.

“I don’t know braille, you moron,” he replied rolling his eyes. He was already in an awful mood from not being able to see, and Aiello’s jokes at his expense were not helping matters. One more joke and he’d probably use him for target practice.

“Well considering you need your glasses to find your glasses, I’d say you should probably learn,” Aiello quipped. That was the last straw for Stiles, and he immediately began laying into the man.

“This is why your father doesn’t write you, Aiello! You’re so damn annoying all the time! Your girlfriend dropped you because she couldn’t stand to deal with you or look at your ugly face anymore! I’m so sick of you! Everyone who’s every cared about you is deeply wrong, and should have their head examined!”

“Calm down, College. He was just messing around. He didn’t mean anything by it,” Zussman soothed. He’d never seen Stiles fly off the handle this bad before. Sure he’d watched him let out a string of curse words and perhaps throw a rock once in a while, but he had yet to see him yelling at his friend over something this trivial.

“Screw off Zussman! This doesn’t concern you!” He turned and continued his tirade at Aiello, who at this point was very taken aback by the man’s outburst.

“I feel sorry for your ma and sisters! No matter what they do they can’t get rid of your stupid self! They’re stuck with you for eternity! When you die, I doubt you’ll go to heaven, because your presence there will make it hell for everyone else! The fact that I have to breathe the same air as you, disgusts me!”

Daniels was shocked. Stiles hadn’t laid into him this bad, and he had spilled hot coffee on him and the book he was reading. He didn’t know whether to help Zussman contain Stiles (who was still on a rampage), or console Aiello who looked like he was ready to burst into tears. Before he could decide, Pierson burst into the tent.

“What the hell is going on in here? I could hear the yelling clear across the camp!”

“He’s yelling at me for no reason, Sarge,” Aiello sniffed, from his cold or from being close to tears, Daniels couldn’t tell.

“It’s not no reason! You were making fun of me!” The nerve of Aiello, not taking responsibility for the debacle he caused.

“Stiles, lost his glasses, sir, and Aiello was teasing him. Then he just, flew off the handle and started yelling at him.” Zussman explained, trying to play the part of peacemaker.

Stiles glared. How was it his fault when Aiello never knew when to shut up?

“Stiles,” the Sargent said with a sigh, “Look in your pocket.” He covered his face with his hand. How could a man who possessed two college degrees be this stupid? How could none of the other men not notice what was there in plain sight? Stiles reached into his pocket.

“Oh,” Stiles whispered. He pulled the glasses out of his pocket and put them on. All along they’d been there on his person. He felt bad for yelling at Aiello now, who was beginning to look more ill by the minute and still looked like he wanted to cry.

“Stiles, you’re coming with me,” Pierson said, opening the tent flap. “And Aiello, get yourself over to the medic. You look like death.”

“I wonder if they’ll be able to stitch my pride up too,” Aiello joked as Pierson left with Stiles. He started to laugh but it was soon overtaken by a coughing fit. He was feeling worse, both physically from his cold, and emotionally from the verbal lashing courtesy of Stiles.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Stiles, don’t you ever let me catch you acting like that again. Do you understand me?”

“Yes, sir. It won’t happen again. I apologize.” He’d just gotten laid into by Pierson for letting his temper getting the better of him. Now he was first shift on watch duty for a week as punishment. He hated watch duty.

“Just my luck,” he muttered to himself walking back to the tent he shared with his friends. All this over a stupid pair of glasses.

***I hope y’all enjoyed this one. The lowest a soldier’s vision could be in WW2 was 20/200 correctable by 20/40 prescription eyeglasses. And as someone who’s prescription is 20/40, I like to imagine Stiles being just as blind as I am.***

[jonillaa]

hi hi can i request a jo slight angst then fluff at the end where you got into an argument and he cried T_T and oh! can female!reader be a noona? ^^

i feel bad seeing/imagining jo cry but he just looks so pretty when he does *flashback to &audition when he cried in that one ep 😭*

thank you so much, lovely!

STATIC ┊ asakura jo

PAIRING ┊ jo x noona!reader

GENRE ┊ slight angst , fluff

WC ┊521

WARNINGS ┊ jo cries , reader and jo are yelling at each other , arguing , bad writing , lowercase intended

SYNOPSIS ┊ jo and you have been dating for a while (before he joined &audition), but one night you both get into a heated argument about his busy schedule as an idol. the argument ends after you notice that jo is crying, which leads to you comforting him.

A/N ┊ AAAAA my first angst!! honestly i feel like this is terrible like idk i promise i wrote this in the span of 2 hours so im so sorry if it seems rushed T_T also ignore how the photos do not match with each other at all plz ..

the sound of a slammed door reverberated through the small apartment. tension hung heavy in the air as you and jo stood facing each other. you had been dating for several months now, but tonight, frustration and exhaustion drew the line between you both.

"i just don't understand why you can't make time for us," you spoke, your voice quivering with emotion. "we barely see each other anymore!"

jo’s shoulders stiffened at the accusation. he couldn't meet your gaze, instead choosing to fixate on the ground beneath his feet. "you know how busy i am as an idol, y/n. i wish you could understand."

"how am I supposed to understand if you never talk to me about it? we used to spend time together, jo. now all we have is glimpses of each other in between your hectic schedule!" your voice rose, anger and hurt seeping into their words.

frustration welled up within jo, his emotions boiling over. "it's not like i want it to be this way! being an idol is what i've worked so hard for, y/n. can’t you at least try to support me instead of adding to the pressure?"

silence hung in the air for a moment as both of them took a step back, suddenly aware of the intensity of their words. jo’s shoulders slumped, and he swiped a hand across his eyes.

that’s when you noticed the glistening tear tracks on jo’s cheeks. your anger instantly dissolved, replaced by concern and a twinge of guilt. stepping forward, you gently took jo’s trembling hands in your own.

jo tried to pull away, averting his gaze. "i-i’m sorry. i didn't mean to cry. it’s just... i’m tired, y/n. i’m tired of feeling like i’m disappointing you."

your heart sank at those words, gently letting your fingers intertwine with jo’s. "you could never disappoint me, jo. i just... i miss you. and i’m scared that we'll drift apart at this rate."

a shuddering breath escaped jo’s lips, his voice barely above a whisper. "i miss you too, y/n. but I can't give up on my dreams just because it's difficult. i don't want us to give up on each other either."

your grip tightened, voice filled with emotion. "i don't want to give up on you. i want to fight for our relationship, but i need you to meet me halfway. Communication is key, jo."

tears streamed freely down jo’s face now, his vulnerability laid bare. "y/n, i’m sorry for shutting you out. i should have talked to you about how i’ve been feeling. i... i never wanted us to argue like this."

you pulled jo into a tight embrace, your fingers gently caressing his back. "i’m sorry too, jo. i shouldn’t have lashed out. we needed this conversation, as difficult as it was."

you both stood there, holding each other, finding comfort in one another's presence. the weight between them slowly dissipated in the warmth of their shared embrace.

"i love you, y/n." jo whispered, his voice laced with raw sincerity.

"i love you too, jo. more than words could ever explain” you replied softly, your voice filled with tenderness.

[reanbowful]

hi Rei !! i hope you’re doing great <3 i wanted to ask if u could write something about alex, gray, ben, teddy, jake (and whoever u want !!) with an airhead girlfriend, like she’s just kind and dumb lol

thank you !!

Hello! I’m doing great thanks!! And thank you for requesting 🤍

“you serious?”

if you catch on to stuff a lot slower than other people

(alex, gray, ben, teddy, jake)

alex go / go hyuntak

I find this so funny because Alex seems like the type of guy who would dump everything out when telling a story and HATES to be interrupted. While YOU, don’t get a single shit that he’s saying but is afraid to ask questions so you just nod your head awkwardly.

So then he just explains stuff begrudgingly before you even finish your questions.

Alex knew that you’re a little slow into catching onto things because you often space out and lose some words.

This is just normal occurrence for him.

He was telling a story about how he was caught by the principal trying to leave school back when he was in middle school.

And he can already tell, with your slow nods and wandering eyes, that your mind is not really there.

“So then, I was walking through the door.”

“What door?”

Alex pursed his lips.

“The back door by the school yard.”

“Ah ok ok.”

He did not look convinced when you made a face of confusion but whatever.

“But then he saw me and yelled ‘ALEX’ like really loud.”

“How did he-“

“Through the window.”

gray yeon / yeon sieun

You’re not dumb. Gray won’t agree with it.

Your brain just lags a little. But you’re not dumb.

“Okay, babe listen. So, here’s this.”

You have a math quiz tomorrow, and Gray was kind enough to come over and try to break each formula down for you to use tomorrow.

Well, even if you told him that it’s really no need cause you’re not going to pass anyway.

Gray accepts the challenge though.

“I don’t get it.”

He drew the diagram again. You’ve been going at this chapter for almost 2 hours now. And this specific problem for like 45 minutes already.

“See here. You can’t have an empty variable, nor can you have more than one in each.”

Gray watched as you stare at him uneasily. Eyes yelling, “Head empty, no thoughts.”

He was about to pick the pen up and move the paper again when you stop him with a clap.

“Ah! So, you can’t be single and cheat. Got it.”

“…”

“Well, I guess that’s one analogy you can follow.”

ben park / park humin

Honestly, I picture Ben to be a similar kind of person.

So congratulations you have someone to be equally confused with!

You were at the cafe you work in, together with the other Eunjang boys.

The cafe is quite slow, so you gave yourself the liberty to just join in on their conversation as they wait out for your shift to end.

Alex and Teddy were debating about something serious but you couldn’t quite catch on when you were messing around with Ben, giggling behind the counter.

“Alright, let’s settle this once and for all. Y/N, which ride do you prefer?”

Alex’s voice brought you back to reality.

Oh shit. What do you say?

“Huh? Uhm.. the subway?”

They all look at you. Absolutely confused.

“Oh, um. We’re not talking about that...”

“We’re not?”

“No, Ben. We’re not.”

Alex took a deep breath, calming himself.

“Okay. Atlantis or French Revolution.” (rides in Lotte World)

“Atlantis.” “Atlantis!”

Both you and Ben look at each other, beaming when you let out the same answer.

“BABE!“

“OMG BABE!”

Alex (lovingly) rolled his eyes.

“You really are a match made in heaven.”

teddy jin / jin taeoh

I feel like Teddy would get frustrated if you constantly cannot understand what he’s trying to say.

Like especially if he’s talking about something serious, he would prefer that you just listen to him until he’s finished rather than asking him every single questions. Because he could actually get mad.

HOWEVER, when he does get mad, he wouldn’t like go crazy on you. Like he wouldn’t yell or anything. He would just sigh and leave until he’s sure enough he won’t lash out on you.

But if it’s just an everyday joke, he will just brush it off with an ‘are you serious?’ look on his face.

“AC causes global warming.”

“Yeah, what’s new?”

“Why?”

“The stuff they use to make the room cooler is depleting our ozone. I forgot the name, ask Gray or the internet or something.”

You nodded. Scratching your chin.

“But, why is it a problem?”

Teddy lowers his phone to look at you incredulously, only to be met with your serious face.

“We need the ozone to breathe.”

“But, can’t we just evolve? Into a no breather creature?”

Nodding, Teddy would just dial Gray’s number and shove it to you on speaker.

jake ji / ji hakho

Jake would laugh. Like he would just laugh completely amused with the situation.

When you first start to get to know each other, Jake really couldn’t tell if you were joking or if you’re being actually serious.

So, he would just laugh awkwardly. But then he saw you being like “Huh?”, and he would just be like, “Oh. You’re actually serious.”

You’ll both end up laughing together.

In a way, you both have a similar reaction when asked about something you cannot answer.

“So, have you thought of a name for your booth?”

You and Jake are outside, painting the cardboard you will be using for your school festival.

You wiped your forehead, getting paint there.

“We decided to go on theme with the chess thingy, Queen’s Gambit! Cool, right~?”

“Huh. What does Queen’s Gambit mean, Jake?”

The two of you froze. Jake cleared his throat.

“You don’t know the meaning of Queen’s Gambit? HAHAHHAA! Ah.. babe you have paint here.”

Dean narrowed his eyes, seeing Jake wipe your forehead, only smearing the paint further. Laughing nervously.

This mf doesn’t know what the fuck he’s talking about, does he?

“What does it mean? I actually wanna know. Maybe y/n knows, perhaps?”

You turn your head, cursing inside. Then you turn to Jake, who looks just as flustered as you.

“AHAHHAHA! How could he not know, right, babe? So funny, Dean!”

Honestly, Dean would be the one embarrassed for the two of you.

[the-storyteller-and-her-soldiers]

Spidersona THE SEQUEL!

As mentioned previously I was able to see the new Spider-Verse movie AND IT WAS AWESOME!! I also have a ton of points that I need to scream about! If you need the basics that'll be here and if you want her origin that's here

Thoughts on the characters

Firstly, I saw the movie and really am in love with Miguel's character. Though no shame here, but X-readers who say he's sadistic did we watch the same movie? Talking about the same man?? Yes, he is rough and quick to temper with Miles BUT sadistic?? No, I can't see it but you do you!

I LOVE HOW THEY FLESHED OUT GWEN AND MILES! My baby siblings. My heart aches for them so bad

IF ANYTHING BAD HAPPENS TO PAVITR I SWEAR TO GOD!

I'm surprised but not displeased by the pronunciation of Hobie's name. All in all very cool guy!

PETER B AS A DAAAAAAAAAD WITH HIS WIFE MJ!!! AND MAYDAY ESP WITH MIGUEL MY BELOVEDS! (Platonically)

Spidersona Development (Spoiler Territory!)

Miles is the original anomaly, yes! BUT my s/i deals with Miguel first since all that he saw in their universe was too much to ignore.

That being said, where Miles was ignored, I was brought into Spider Society almost like an experiment since my 'canon' is so different.

For example, a Spider-person can't save the police commander they're close to. Rebecca doesn't have that. Her 'equivalent' was her dad being Military Captain who walked out on her a year into being Spider-Man. Yet Rebecca doesn't feel remorseful for not keeping him around. If anything, she resents him.

She also has a unique power as well. She can teleport. It's only when she feels threatened and when the threat isn't looking (IE Blinking, peripheral vision, stuff like that). She used to think it was only small distances but now is not sure. It does drain her though.

Yes, she is a little shit about it to Miguel.

She also has never glitched within other dimensions, even without Miguel's Multiverse Wristband.

She believes that this is because she got her powers from the Web-Weaver who may or may not have a hand in the Web of Life that connects all spider-people together. As she puts it to Miguel, "I got my powers from him and his purpose is to hunt me down! Wouldn't be fun for him if I got glitchy on the run... Not to mention things like the time-loop had to be a pocket-dimension."

Miguel has no reason not to believe it, given the evidence he's seen, but HATES it nonetheless since it can contradict all he believes in if the two discuss for too long.

Miguel makes her wear a wristband anyway. "Just so he can keep track of her" But Rebecca is sure while Jessica Drew, Lyla, and Peter B. know that there's another reason..!

She and Lyla are besties who try to get their leader to lighten up out of care for him.

Rebecca does joke about stealing Lyla away if the grumpiness ever gets too much for her.

Rebecca is always quick to try and defend Miles and the other teen spiders who get in Miguel's way.

In times during Across The Spider-Verse, Miguel has her working with him a lot. Even going as far as to trust her with certain things such as helping her hunt down Miles.

But she can understand where the kids are coming from and approaches Gwen, Hobie, and Pavitr to work with them since the Web of Life, Canon Events, and everything don't make sense to her. She believes she can't be the only exception to this. She also wants to keep families together and well since she knows the pain of a broken one.

This has led to a moment where Miguel lashes out as a confession and yells "YOU'RE THE EXCEPTION! To... to the Web of Life, to the Arachnoid Humanoid Poly-Multiverse, to ME!"

Rebecca is both flattered and softened since she knew he had feelings and she felt the same BUT SHE HATES being 'the exception'

Misc Stuff

When she first saw The Spot she low-key fangirled! He reminds her of the art style of one of her fave vocaloid songs music videos "Dramaturgy"

She pauses the fight so that she can show him if he's willing!

She wants to be his friend but also DON'T DESTROY THINGS PLEASE!!

She will try to hear out villains before just beating them up.

She can and has killed a villain since they were really into doing some beyond messed up shit. No qualms about it either...

She always has music on or is playing a game, sometimes both, in her downtime.

Miguel scolded her about it one time and she served him 3 doctor's notes. He can't say she isn't prepared.

She likes to use her webbing like a whip as her main form of combat style!

Her main goal is to make those around her days a little brighter. If she does so, then she's happy!

Gwen has her music, Miles has art, Rebecca has her writing!

She's always listening to something different and said music often contrasts her outfit (IE She has a pretty pink dress on with ribbons and frills? It's emo and punk-rock. She's wearing black, ripped pants, and her combat boots? It's cutesy-vocaloid and chill lofi on her phone)

Rarely ever wears her spider suit in Spider Society since she usually just pops in whenever.

She's into theater and musicals too! (So goodness help everyone)

She gets more injuries in her civilian life than she does as Spider-Girl

Taglist: @disneymarina @maskedanarchy-ships @floweringforgetfulness @singingdeepinme @violetsandmilk @nyandereneko @canongf @goldenworldsabound @wanderers-wife

[tmntxthings]

Hey can you do platonic tmnt 2012 x child reader who is like Nezuko

Child reader is a experiment subject,they wear a mask because they don't want to lose control.They eat fruit instead of blood and gore.

Welcome to the Family

author’s note: okay so I went off script a little dear anon, I hope you don’t mind I only watched a few episodes of demon slayer hehe, also what do you guys think of the color coded dialogue? or do you rather it all white? this got to be verryyyy long it’s 4 am >.< i just couldn’t stop oml

warnings: child abuse, cursing, violence, angst, comfort ending, fluff

—————————————————————————

“Alright guys, we are doing this quick: in and out, got it?” Leonardo said drawing his swords as he nodded to Raph, he knew he would enjoy kicking the door down. “Yeah yeah yeah let’s do this already!” Raph said impatiently. “Remember Dr. Falcon was the one who-“ Donnie was cut off by Raph kicking the door down and Mikey pushed his way past his older brothers. “Booyakashaaa!” He hollered twirling his nunchucks ready for anything.

“Stick to the plan!” Leo seethed as all eyes landed on the doctor who had a large syringe in his hand. A big metal chair sat in the middle of the room, tiny arms were the only thing visible to the turtles, they were strapped down tightly. “He’s got mutangen!” Donnie yelled recognizing the color immediately. Falcon gritted his teeth, “don’t move, or else she gets it.” It only took a second of hesitation on the turtles part for Dr. Falcon to stab the needle into the patients arm, the chair was turned away from the turtles so they couldn’t see who was on the receiving end of such brutal treatment but that was all it took for Raph to lunge forward sais ready to take down the enemy. Leo flanked his red brother, only sidestepping to go on the right side of the room while Raph took the left. Donnie went to the chair, spinning it to face him and he almost dropped his bo. Mikey went to give his older brothers back up but it was pretty unnecessary, the fight was over in five minutes flat, the doctor cowering to the floor in surrender.

“Donnie what’s wrong??” Leo asked, leaving Mikey and Raph to watch over Dr. Falcon to make sure he didn’t try anything else like escaping. “It’s a child…” Donnie said softly watching as the little girl struggled underneath her binds, eyes completely red, her fingers elongated into sharpened claws, and fangs could be seen behind the contraption she wore. The muzzle was muffling her raging screams as she lashed around as much as she could. Needle marks were littered on her arms, and it became obvious she had been under the doctor’s control for a while. Leo’s eyes hardened, turning back to face the doctor with disgust. “What were you doing to her?” He spat as Raph couldn’t help himself leaving Falcon to go see the child, Mikey followed suit his eyes saddening.

“Enhancing her, you’d never understand, she’s special, she was born special.” Raph came back eyes a-blazing “enhancing her?! you keep kids strapped into chairs stickin’ them with ooze? fuckin’-“ Raph’s foot launched forward kicking the doctor in the stomach, “-psychopath!” He finished breathing hard and fast, he was flexing his fingers around his weapons he wanted to hurt this guy bad. Wanted to keep kicking until he heard bones crunch, but held himself back. The doctor was heaving and coughing up blood and Donnie watched as the child reacted to the smell of the copper, her eyes growing a darker red and becoming more ferocious. His hands went forward slowly and the girl started to tremble, “it’s alright, I’m not gonna hurt you,” Donnie said softly as Mikey watched clenching his nunchucks silently. It was a first for him he usually had lots to say.

Donnie pushed back the long black hair that draped over her ears and sure enough he had guessed correctly. She had large protruding ears resembling those of a bat. It all tied in and he drew his hand back, noticing how she had stilled completely not even breathing until his hand was a safe distance away. “She’s a bat mutant, distinguishing features are ears, teeth, eyes, and nails.” The rest of her looked very much human, she was thin, frail, and paler than a ghost. “Donnie is she gonna be okay?” Mikey spoke up beside his genius brother. Donnie didn’t answer because he didn’t know what to say. “We’ve gotta save her!” Mikey said going for the straps trying to release her.

“Wait!” Leo said and Mikey frowned, “We can’t leave her here Leo,” Mikey said shaking his head not letting that even be an option. “I know but we don’t know if she’s dangerous what if she attacks us?” Leo said looking at each of his brothers. “He must have a sedative here,” Donnie said muttering to himself as Dr. Falcon started crawling to the window. “And where do ya think you’re goin’” Raph said smiling sadistically, sais clinking together as he stepped down on the doctor’s ankle to keep him from moving further away. “The cops will be here soon, we gotta be quick Donnie,” Leo said as he looked back at Raph, “just knock him out,” and once Raph had the go ahead he reveled, “with pleasure!” Stowing his weapons away he cracked his knuckles and watched as the doctor cowered. “fuckin’ pussy” he snarled not holding back his punches until the man was slumped.

Donnie got another needle ready and he hated how the girl’s eyes widened in horror. He winced, “I’m sorry I promise this is the last one you’ll ever have to endure, it’s for your safety and ours,” he spoke quickly and held her forearm still to prevent her from thrashing and making it worse. As soon as her eyes rolled back everyone was helping with her binds. “I’ll carry her,” Mikey announced as the sirens could be heard approaching. “Alright let’s move.” Leo said as they cleared out to the rooftops. Raph shook his head, “Splinter’s gonna have our shells,” he muttered under his breath wondering how the rat would take Mikey’s new friend. He didn’t want to leave the girl there either he thought maybe she’d be better in police hands but remembered she was part mutant. They’d cast her out as a freak as soon as she woke up.

“You did what?!” Splinter brought down his cane to the floor in a thump and everyone flinched. “She’s like us Sensei, we couldn’t just leave her!” Leo spoke up for his brothers as Mikey held her close to his plastron. “And I suppose you four are going to care for her?” Splinter narrowed his eyes, wanting it to be clear that they were not some rescue that took in every poor soul. He had himself and his sons to think about, the more people who knew of their secret home/hideout the worse it would be for them. And the easier it would be for Shredder to find them all and take the new family that Splinter was willing to die for. He wouldn’t lose his boys to anyone.

“I’ll take full responsibility!” Mikey quipped up, eyes serious as he met Splinters. “I hope you all know what you’re doing.” He said turning away, going to his room to meditate and think the whole thing over. Hopefully with a clearer head he could talk to his boys without it becoming an argument. All four turtles sighed in relief. Mikey felt you stir in his arms and he squeaked with surprise, “she’s coming to!!!” He didn’t know what to do or what to expect and quickly handed you off to Donnie. Who quickly handed you off to Leo. He held you awkwardly and decided it was best to leave the dojo, “c’mon let’s go to my room,” he said quickly and they all followed suit. He placed you gently on his bed and they all surrounded you, heads coming in close as they watched you blink drowsily awakening.

You blinked once, twice, three times, your eyes were big as they slowly widened, Donnie noted how clear they were now, not red at all. You peered up at all of them silently as they stared down at you, Mikey broke the silence, “Awwww she’s so cute~!” He gushed hands reaching out to scoop you in his arms and you backed away, kicking your feet out underneath you until your back hit the wall. “Quit it Mikey you’re scarin’ her” Raph said annoyed as he reached out and grabbed Mikey’s face pushing his brother back. “Geez Raph!” Mikey groaned as he rubbed his face, frowning, he hadn’t meant to scare you. “It’s okay,” Leo spoke softly to you, “Falcon’s gone, and you’re with us now,”

You had to be at least 7 or 8 years old. But Donnie really couldn’t guess too accurately because your malnutrition played a big factor in this. The doctor hadn’t seemed to be feeding you properly because Donnie didn’t think it was healthy to look that pale or skinny for a human. “Do you know where your parents are?” Leo asked and they all waited silently for your answer. You blinked. “You think she speaks English?” Mikey asked worriedly and Donnie smacked his palm to his face, “she may not be able to speak at all Mikey, or perhaps she was never taught..” Donnie listed some possibilities and Raph grimaced. “Can you understand us or not?” Raph asked and you nodded slowly. Still looking very wary and on guard.

“Do you have parents?” Leo tried again. But you didn’t respond and Leo looked over to Raph. “Uh, do you have a family?” Raph tried and you tilted your head to the side. Mikey would’ve found this adorable if not for the reason of your confusion. Did you not know the word family? Had you been alone in that room with just Falcon for as long as you could remember? Mikey tried to shake the thoughts away, “we’re your family now,” Mikey said smiling at you as he pressed his hand to his plastron and then waved his hand towards his brothers. “I’m Mikey, I’m the raddest,” he introduced himself and nudged Donnie for him to do the same. “Uh I’m Donatello but you can call me Donnie,” he said formally, “I’m Leo,” he spoke with a soft smile, and Raph said gruffly, “Raph,” he pointed a finger to his plastron and then he pointed at you.

They all waited in silence again, your hands came up and touched the muzzle you wore. Donnie’s eyes immediately widened, how could he forget! He wondered if it had hindered you from speaking in the first place. Or worse if it had been causing you pain, “I can get that off for you, but it’ll be easier in my lab..” he muttered the last part as Leo and Raph shot their purple brother a glare. “Alright alright I’ll be back,” he said holding up a finger to you indicating one moment. “Ohhh the metal stuff won’t let you speak?” Mikey said after a few moments catching up with the rest of his brothers. “Obviously numb nuts,” Raph said rolling his eyes.

“Sorrrry, kinda hard to pick that up it’s my first time seeing something like this!” Mikey said putting his hands on his hips. Leo sat down on the floor, hands going up to stretch. They had all been bent over for some time, watching your every move with great interest. You did the same, your eyes flitting around the room quickly before going back to look at the turtle brothers. Raph sat on the edge of the bed, Leo raised an eyebrow at him in question but Raph wasn’t looking at Leo. “I just want you to know, no one’s gonna hurt you here. You’re safe.” You looked into the red turtle’s eyes for a long time, Mikey almost thought it was a staring contest until you nodded, tears forming in your eyes. All the brothers inched forward, “shi-“

“Raph.” Leo cut off his brother from cursing, “I mean shoot.” He grumped as he looked worriedly at the tears that threatened to fall. “Great going Raph!” Mikey said as tears formed in his eyes too unable to help it. He sniffed trying to hold them back. “I didn’t mean to!” Raph said defensively. “It’s okay to cry, you’ve been through a lot,” Leo said, heart hurting that what he said was sadly true. He wished it wasn’t and you nodded again tears falling as you sniffed. Donnie walked back in, arms full of tools and he almost dropped it all when he noticed the crying fest going on. “What happened?!” He said rushing forward. “Raph made her cry!” Mikey wailed as he cried too, and Raph took a deep breath trying to not punch his orange brother in front of you. “All I said was, we ain’t gonna hurt her and that she’s safe!” Raph again said defensively crossing his arms. Donnie breathed out relieved that you weren’t in any physical pain though his heart ached to know you were going through some emotional turmoil. “You ready to get that thing off?” Donnie asked you and you nodded again wiping your tears with the back of your hands.

“Alright just tap me if it hurts,” Donnie said placing all the tools on Leo’s bed as he leaned forward, motioning for you to do the same. You did so hesitantly. With careful hands, Donnie was able to remove the contraption, it had been cruelly made to tighten at any movements, and hindered your speech. You opened and closed your mouth, the feeling so foreign to you. You basically had a bar in your mouth for however long you had been confined with Falcon, it reminded Donnie of a horse bit mouthpiece. It was inhumane. Mikey hadn’t been able to watch for long and offered to go get pizza. Which left three brothers, Donnie was surprised Raph hadn’t wandered off as well, but he stayed sitting next to you on the bed while Leo watched from the floor. “How do you feel now?” Donnie asked picking up his tools to go return to the lab, “b-better,” a soft whisper of a voice could be heard and all the turtles stilled. “I’ll be back,” Donnie said chewing on the inside of his cheek as he motioned his head to the tools in his arm.

“So do ya have a name?” Raph asked and Leo stood from the floor, going to sit on your other side. You shook your head. “Well you’re in luck, Mikey’s the best when it comes to names,” Leo spoke up smiling to himself as Raph chuckled. You were looking back and forth between the red and blue turtle. “R-red” you pointed to Raph and then you turned, “B-blue” you said pointing this time at Leo. “Close enough,” Raph grinned and clenched his hands to keep from ruffling your hair. “Do you have a favorite color?” Leo asked and he watched as you slowly crawled out of his bed, legs dangling off the edge before you pushed off. They watched as you landed shakily, both holding themselves back from going forward to help. No one wanted to scare you.

“Black,” it was your first word you hadn’t tumbled with. As you touched your hair, it was the color of the night sky, and long going down your back curling towards the ends. “Not pink?” Leo teased and you promptly shook your head. Your stomach growled and this had both brothers up and moving, you immediately moved backwards quickly, reacting to their movements. They moved slower, “c’mon Mikey’s got pizza,” Raph said nodding his head to the doorway as Leo went first leading the way. You followed and Raph walked leisurely behind you, keeping his distance. You hardly came up to his hip! He still couldn’t believe how young you were and he tried to push the thought away, it only made him angry and anger made him violent.

He’d rather not have an episode while you were here. Hopefully they’d find your parents soon. Mikey entered the abandoned subway, pizza boxes in hand. “Who’s hungry?!” He hollered as Donnie entered the room from his lab. You raised your hand in response, and Donnie held back a laugh. Everything you did was adorable! “Alrightttt” Mikey said beaming at you as he carried the pizzas to the kitchen table. They all waited for you to climb into a seat first before they all rushed to sit in the chairs next to you. Mikey and Donnie winning out this time. “I’ve got pepperoni and classic cheese!” Mikey said grabbing you a slice of each.

The smell of bread and cheese wafted in your face and you licked your lips hungrily. But as you took a bite and the brothers watched as your eyes turned red and fingernails elongated, fangs coming out to pierce the pizza. Their mouths dropped open. “I don’t think she’s gonna be satisfied with pizza,” Donnie said and it was as if a switch had flipped. With your mouth piece off and your hunger at the forefront of your mind you stood on your chair. “Kid, sit back down,” Raph warned and you hissed and glared at him, your eyes painfully red now. Donnie pushed his chair out, “Don’t let them take off,” he said as he went to the cabinets and pantries as he reminded himself what exactly did bats eat other than blood and bugs.

Your fangs were abnormally long, jutting out past your mouth and digging into your lower lip. You whimpered as your stomach grumbled, and your eyes started darting towards the kitchen door. Leonardo was moving before you could have a second thought. “Sorry, can’t let you escape that easy,” he was in front of the kitchen door, blocking it with his body. You stomped your foot into the chair and it creaked under the force. “Temper temper,” Raph couldn’t help himself, using the words that were usually thrown in his face. “Everyone just calm down,” Mikey said hands going up, “man I can’t believe you don’t like pizza!” he frowned.

You had enough, jumping down and running to Leo, his eyes widened not wanting to touch you but he couldn’t exactly let you get past him. His hands went out to scoop you but you ducked and stomped your foot down again this time on Leo’s toes. He howled in pain immediately reacting and leaving an opening for you to dart past him. “Raph!” Leo called out wondering why he was the only one stopping you as Mikey ditched his pizza and Raph clambered up quickly chasing after you. Donnie entered the room holding up an apple, “fruit! Bats eat fruit!” He said triumphantly only to see Leo hopping on one foot holding onto his toes the kitchen table empty. “Great.” Donnie said sarcastically as Leo shot him a glare and Donnie ran for the door.

“Y/n!” Mikey called out as you jumped over one of the subway turnpikes. You hesitated, and that was all Donnie needed for him to come into view and wave the apple frantically. Your mouth drooled as you ran back to them, Donnie bent down letting you swipe the fruit from his hand as you greedily sank your fangs into the apple. “Yay! Food accomplished!” Mikey cheered as everyone waited for you to finish, by the time you were done the apple was shriveled to its core. Your eyes faded back to normal clear whites, and your fangs weren’t as long anymore either. You looked at Donnie shyly, and he knew what that look meant, “we’ve got more if you’re still hungry,” he smiled and you nodded quickly. Going back into the kitchen holding onto the core. “So cool!” Mikey gushed as he followed you and Donnie, Raph behind everyone else.

When you pushed the door open and noticed Leo back in his chair you ran forward. Cheeks dusting with embarrassment, as you patted his knee in apology. At that Leo couldn’t help himself, he ruffled your hair without a second thought, “all’s forgiven hungry-pants,” Leo teased. Then you followed Donnie as he led you to the pantry where he found two more apples. You gave him the apple core in favor of the new apples. He threw it away for you and watched as you walked back to your chair. It seemed you weren’t as famished to quickly drain those two.

Crisis averted everyone ate, making small talk, trying to get you to speak every now and again but let it go when you only answered with a nod or a shake of your head. “So Y/n,” Mikey started, pizzas devoured and your apples diminished to cores. “You named her already??” Leo said surprised and Raph nodded, “Yeah while you were bouncing around in here,” Leo’s mouth went into a straight line as you covered your eyes in embarrassment. “Can’t wait to see your reaction when your toes get crushed,” Leo muttered and Raph’s eyebrows went up, “oh I’ll tell you what’s gonna happen, ain’t gonna be a big pansy about it that’s for sure!”

“Oh really?” Leo said and Raph responded immediately “Really.” They were both having a stare off when Mikey interrupted, “Just ignore them Y/n that’s what I do,” he whispered to you as you peeked at the orange brother through your fingers. “Anyways, it’s getting late, I was wondering where you wanted to sleep?” He asked and that quickly got everyone’s attention. It was like Mikey had asked who was your favorite turtle. You shrugged and Mikey said it was high time for a lair tour. All brothers got up talking at once trying to show you their rooms first, all except for Leo. He went to crouch beside you, “wanna just sleep in the living room? We can make a pillow fort or pile up the bean bags,” he whispered into your ear. He hadn’t needed to get that close, in fact he could’ve whispered from across the table and you would’ve heard him but your eyes sparkled at his idea.

You still let each brother drag you around the lair, showing off their respective rooms and why theirs were better than the others. When it came time to choose and the group was back in the living room you pointed straight down to your feet. “Here?” Raph said disappointed as you nodded. He groaned but left to get his pillows and blankets. You flashed Leo a smile as he smiled too going do the same. All the brothers did and it was the first time they had left you alone. And at that same moment Splinter came entering the room quietly, but you heard him immediately and your breathing quickened, scared of the newcomer. He was taller than the turtles. “Red!” You wailed and Raph had been on his way back when he dashed forward, worrying why you sounded so frightened. “What’s the matt-,”

Splinter was watching you quietly, thinking as he looked down at what you wore. It seemed his sons hadn’t given you a change of clothes yet. You wore a patients gown, which couldn’t be warm he noted. “Raphael,” Splinter spoke as the turtle came to your side and your hand reached up to hold onto one of his fingers tightly. “Yes Sensei?” Raph wasn’t worried now that he knew why you had called for him, but his heart was still racing, the fear in your voice, he hadn’t been expecting it. “Get her into new clothes before you all go to sleep,” and his head bowed to you slightly as he turned to leave. Raph’s eyes went down to your clothes, it was like he hadn’t noticed the tattered gown until now. He cursed under his breath, not knowing you could hear what he said quite clearly.

“Hmm, we’ll have to go get you something better tomorrow but do you wanna wear one of my shirts for now?” He asked wiggling his finger that was still in your grip, you were still staring after Master Splinter in wonder, “that’s our dad,” Raph noted as you looked up at him. “Yeah he’s a rat not a turtle,” he said scratching his chin with his free hand. You tugged on his finger and he took that as a yes to his earlier question. He led you to his room again, letting you put on his shirt as he stood outside of his room, shell leaning against the doorway as he watched Mikey emerge from his room. “No fair!!” Mikey gasped as he saw you come out of Raph’s room dressed in a big red t-shirt that basically looked like another gown on you.

Your patient gown in your hands, you didn’t know what to do with it. Raph held out his hand, “want me to chunk it?” He asked and you nodded, placing the fabric in his hands. Everyone had their pillows and blankets in the middle of the living room, Leo had the tv on playing an episode of Space Heroes. “Not this again!” Raph groaned as Donnie helped you and Mikey build the pillow fort. “It’s the structure that’s the most important part, without that the foundation will just~” Donnie droned on and you peered over at Mikey who was making silly faces. You giggled and the sound rang out to all the turtles ears. They all looked at one another smiling, “that was all me bros,” Mikey said proudly. With the fort finished and large enough for everyone to fit in, it was one big slumber party. “Goodnight Y/n,” Mikey said happily and everyone else followed suit wishing you a goodnight and to have good dreams. “night night,” you yawned quietly turning underneath the blankets getting comfortable. “We totally have a little sister!” Mikey whispered excitedly once your breathing had deepened. Donnie rolled over, “she might have parents Mikey,” he didn’t want to be the bearer of bad news but he knew Leo was thinking the same thing. “Well I think she’d like it here.” Mikey whispered again this time quieter and more unsure of himself. “Get some sleep,” Raph mumbled. “We’ll talk to Y/n about it tomorrow,” Leo said softly, trying to reassure his younger brother. It got quiet and Leo was the last to fall asleep, looking at all his brothers under a pillow fort with you in the center. It had a been a while since they had last done something like this. He smiled, silently hoping for the same thing Mikey was wishing for, he knew all his brothers probably felt the same way after today. You were a part of their family, even if you did have folks waiting for you.

[purple-babygirl]

hi im not sure if you’re taking requests so you can ignore this if you’d like, but i really liked your mafia bucky fic !! and i was wondering if you could do one where maybe someone breaks into the house and the reader has to force themselves to be big for a little bit just so they can fight them off and then she runs to the little safe room and goes little there and Bucky finds her there and comforts her and it’s just all fluffy? sorry if this is so specific i just loved the last fic sm 😅

Pairing: Mafia!Daddy!Bucky Barnes x f!little!reader

Word count: 1,958

Warnings: reader gets attacked (includes harassment and mentions of violence, cursing, guns), reader gets hurt, mentions of killing, Bucky's softness (yes it's a warning), ddlg dynamics.

A/N: I've been holding onto this one for forever now I'm really sorry for taking so long, dear nonnie🥺 it means the world to me that you liked mafia!daddy!bucky and i hope i delivered with this one and that you like it as much, love. Please enjoy ily xx💜

~

safe

You’re a big girl.

You’re a big girl.

You’re a big girl. You can do this.

It all happened too fast. She woke up to guns shooting, Bucky’s men yelling at each other before all the voices suddenly stopped and the door to their bedroom was violently kicked open.

She didn’t even have time to scream before she was dragged from under the large bed by her ankle.

You’re a big girl.

You’re a big girl.

You’re a big girl. Just like Daddy taught you.

“Let go! You don’t wanna do this!” she shrieked, warning the person trying to snatch her off the floor, her leg kicking as she struggled to flee his vice-like hold.

She’d suddenly forgotten every single self-defense move Bucky has ever taught her and was thrashing in panic.

“Oh, I don’t?” the man laughed, his grip painful on her limb as he tried to get on top of her.

She screamed when he dug his fingernails in the flesh of her shin, forcing her legs apart.

“Such a delicate little thing.” He licked his lips when he drew blood, running his gun up her bare leg, pressing down when it reached her inner thigh, “beg me to let you go.”

The words infuriated her big self. If Bucky had taught her one thing that she could never forget it was how dear and precious she was.

“Do you know who my man is?” Her free foot collided with the intruder’s chin, hitting him just right for his teeth to slam together, making him groan and loosen his grasp.

“I beg no one for nothing.” She spat, clumsily standing up, rushing inside Bucky’s large walk-in closet.

“You’re gonna regret that, you little bitch!” The masked man threatened, banging his fist on the door, “I’m gonna make that man of yours weep blood over your dead slut body!”

Her breath was coming out in puffs as tears blurred her vision. With trembling fingers, she moved Bucky’s hung-up suits to the side, revealing the metal door to the panic room.

You’re a big girl.

You’re a big girl.

You’re a big girl. Just a bit longer.

She could hear the man take a few steps back and she knew he was going to shoot the closet open. Her shaky fingers pushed the buttons and typed the number code, the date of the day Bucky had asked her to be his.

I feel safe knowing I have you, angel, so it’s only fit that we make it the safe room code, he'd told her with a playful shrug.

She slid inside as soon as the door moved, pushing her back against the concrete wall, trying to take her breath. The door clicked shut right before the wooden one to the closet was thrown open.

You’re a big girl.

You’re a big girl.

You’re a big girl. You got this.

She let out a relieved sigh that broke into a sob as she tiredly slid down the wall, still hearing the scary man curse, bang and shoot on the safe room door.

Where was Bucky? She couldn’t hold on any longer. This wasn’t a situation she wanted to be present in. Her body started folding up, taking fetal position as her mind led her to the safer side against her better will. Even her fists closed upon themselves, tears leaving her eyes and traveling down the bridge of her nose. She was losing consciousness of her present surroundings, pictures of Bucky’s eyes spreading in her vision instead of the dull, grey walls of the room.

She was crying too loudly to hear the firing of Bucky’s gun right outside the door or the peeping of the door as it slid open once again.

“Angel!” Bucky’s voice sounded so distant. She felt like she was drowning with how muffled his calls were to her ears.

Seeing her body shake with sobs on the floor like that made Bucky want to walk out and shoot the man’s dead body again and again until he couldn’t be identified.

How dare they send someone here? How dare they violate the sanctity of his home? They were certainly not going to live another day to repeat or repent from their sins.

“Angel, are you hurt?” He kneeled beside her, gently untangling her limbs to check if she was wounded anywhere.

Aside from a couple of nasty scratches by her ankle, she was physically okay and Bucky could breathe a little better as his body sagged on the floor.

He swallowed and lifted her on his lap, signaling his men to leave when they stepped in the room to check if they were needed after ‘cleaning up’.

“Get me water.” Was all he said and they were running to the nearest fridge.

“I’m sorry, my angel. I’m here now. You’re okay.” Bucky mumbled, lips hovering over her temple.

“Dada.” Her body leaned into his warmth but her cries didn’t stop and Bucky could only hold her closer as he tried not to let guilt rip him apart.

She was like that now because of him. Had he been a normal man with a normal life, she would’ve been safer. She didn’t deserve to be startled awake only to be chased by a criminal in the middle of the night. She didn’t deserve any of the bullshit that hit her because she was with Bucky.

He kept planting kiss after kiss to her head, wishing he could go back and be there to protect her.

“Shh, you’re okay, my angel. You’re safe,” he kept telling her as he supported himself up with her in his arms.

Her cries were dying down and she was getting comfier in Bucky’s protective hold, fingers digging in his shoulders afraid he would leave again.

“Please, calm down, baby. I’m here. No one can hurt you, angel.” Bucky took her out and to the bathroom so he could take a look at her leg.

“Baby, are you hurt anywhere else?” he asked after sitting her down on the cold counter.

Instead of answering, she pressed her forehead to his chest and kept sniveling, hands clutching Bucky’s jacket. She wasn’t ready for him to let her go yet. She may be too far gone but her body knew it needed to be close to Bucky’s.

“Baby, please come back to me,” Bucky begged, tears threatening to spill from his once hard, cold eyes.

“Angel,” his thumb brushed her cheek and she finally looked up to him.

“Dada, I was so scared.” She sobbed, shaking at the memory.

“I’m sorry, my angel.” Bucky pressed his lips to her forehead, “I’m here with you, baby. No need to be scared anymore.”

“That man- he-” she hiccupped.

“You’re okay, angel. Breathe.” Bucky stroked her back warmly as she buried her face in his chest again.

He took the bottle of water from one of his men, waving him out of the bathroom.

“Here, baby, drink some water.”

She wouldn’t move. She just wanted to be close to Daddy. She was scared and Bucky was safety. He was home.

“For me, baby. Just a tiny sip.” Bucky twisted the bottle cap open, gently cupping her cheek to coax her away from his body.

His heart swelled when she leaned her damp cheek on his palm, enjoying the warmth. Her smaller hand cupped his and her eyes closed, her face further pressed into Bucky’s hand as a soft sigh escaped her lips.

Bucky bit his lip, holding back the waterworks. He should’ve been here; should’ve prevented it all from happening. His thumb brushed her chin and she opened her eyes.

“Drink a little, angel.” Bucky offered a kind smile.

She nodded, sitting up straighter, her lashes wet with tears as she looked up to Bucky, her gaze holding no blame.

He brought the bottle to her lips and she gulped down, the chilled water soothing her sore throat.

“Better?” Bucky cocked his head to the side and she nodded, sniffing.

Bucky bowed, holding his forehead against hers. He just wanted to feel her breathe soundly; wanted to make his mind stop telling him he almost lost her forever.

“Dada.”

“Yes, my angel.” Bucky pecked her lips.

“My leg hurts.” Her voice was awfully small as she pointed to the burning scratches ruining her beautiful skin. Bucky wished he could hide her between his ribs in place of his heart.

“Daddy’s got you, angel.”

Bucky cleaned her wound, apologizing with a kiss to her cheek every time she hissed. He had her tell him what happened to distract her and it worked. She wanted him to be proud so much she eagerly told him all about kicking the bad man. Tears gathered in her eyes once again when he applied ointment but she continued with her story, Bucky’s smile keeping her calm.

“Angel, you were so brave! I’m so proud of you, baby.” Bucky kissed her bandaged leg, “how did you do that?!”

“Kept thinkin’ dada thoughts.” She hugged Bucky again.

Bucky was a puddle on the bathroom floor. She was telling him she was brave like that because she was thinking of him through it all. He adored her so much he didn’t know who he was if not her man.

“I promise this is the last time you would ever have to go through anything like that,” Bucky assured, chuckling lovingly when she squeezed him harder and nodded.

She believed Bucky. She knew he could keep her safe. This wasn’t a usual occurrence, Bucky’s always made sure she was protected. She had no doubt anything would change. She trusted her Daddy with all her heart.

Bucky knew that and it scared him to death. He was scared one day he might not be up to the trust she’d put in him. He feared disappointing her; not being there for her in time. He was terrified a day would come where he might let her down.

“Never again. You’re safe, my angel. You’re always safe with me.”

Bucky’s soft lips placed a languishing kiss to her forehead. Her eyes were next, Bucky kissed her eyelids and under her eyes. Then he left wet kisses on both cheeks before pecking her nose. She smiled shyly when he pressed his mouth to the corner of hers.

“I love you, angel,” Bucky whispered against her lips before kissing her.

~

Bucky carried her back to their bed. The room was organized again, nothing was out of place and she was in Daddy’s arms. She was safe once more.

Bucky held her to his chest all night, his mind too loud to let him fall asleep. She went back to bed almost immediately though. Bucky’s presence was all it really took for her to feel peaceful enough to close her eyes and dream again.

When she moved out of his embrace in her sleep, Bucky carefully left the room and went to his office to review the security cameras footage. He knew watching the attack would make his blood boil again but he had to see what happened and how the unlucky asshole got inside his mansion.

While she already told him she’d defended herself, Bucky was the proudest seeing it unfold on the screen.

“Do you know who my man is?... I beg no one.”

The words brought the largest smile to Bucky’s lips. He was so proud of his angel; so amazed by her courage. He thought he couldn’t love her any more than he already did and he was wrong. His heart has picked the right girl and for that he was grateful. Bucky took one last look at the shining ring in his top drawer before shutting it and walking back to continue cuddling his precious sweetheart.

~~

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